Secretary Chertoff, I have been critical of the efforts of our gov't in enforcing current laws on illegal immigration. Today I want to thank you for standing up to those interests and not allowing them to continue to tie the hands of law enforcement. Now if our country could do something about all of those sanctuary cities, and continue building the border fences, we will all be better off. All Americans at least. Thanks again.
October 5, 2007 10:49 AM
Anonymous said...
The Post is right on the bad economic outcomes...that is what is desired. We want it to be bad.
It is SUPPOSED to be a DISincentive which they seem not to be able to comprehend.
We want laws that are: Harsh, Punitive, and unfair. That is the reason for disincentives.
What do they expect would be the outcome of a cute fuzzy free medical care being proposed...
We already are having a huge influx of "Birthright Tourism" from Jamica with brochures being put out to get people to come here late term in pregnancy and give birth here. So they can sue or stay and get all the goodies we promise.
That is why Birthright citizenship has been given up by all other First World countries. Ireland and Australia stopped it in the last few years. We are the only fools left on the now eroding hill.
October 5, 2007 12:27 PM
Anonymous said...
I want all the current laws agianst illegal immigration enforced! Can't Congress pass some emergency legislation to stop all the frivolous lawsuits being brought on by special interest groups? The Amercian people do not want illegal aliens here in this country. We want the laws aggressively enforced. We cannot continue being "held hostage" by illegal aliens and a few extreme special interest groups!
October 5, 2007 1:09 PM
Anonymous said...
I have a big concern with Driver's License's now being issued to illegal aliens in some states. This is a set-up for voter-fraud. Most states accept just a drivers license as proof-of-citizenship to register to vote. So how can we make sure illegal aliens with drivers license cannot cast a vote in our elections? Along with a fake or stolen SSN, any drivers license issued to an illegal alien can be used as fraud to claim benefits that are only available to US Citizens and to cast votes in our elections! We can no longer accept a drivers license as ID for legal employment or to Vote! We must remove that document from the "acceptable documents" list
Yes, the Sanctuary ideas need to be addressed in the same harsh methods as the illegals. Either announce the reduction of DHS funds or Pull the tax exemption of the religious groups. Ive written the IRS commissioner and they wont touch it. See if you guys can grow a set and take it on.
If you do not, Im hearing some of the groups are going to start making Citizen Arrest of the gal holed up in the Simi Valley church.
You need to inform the states very up front that there will be consequences for not getting in line with the REAL ID act. My state is one of the best with tight rules for Drivers License. Ive been asking our state reps to put a law in action where our state will NOT RECIPROCATE with other states DL if they are given out to illegals.
October 5, 2007 2:13 PM
Anonymous said...
Mr. Chertoff says the two editorials illustrate the obstacles the Department faces dealing with the problem of illegal immigration. Mr. Chertoff asserts that it is not true that the non-match letter policy will harm legal workers.
The Washington Post article claims there is a "probability of bureaucratic confusion on an epic scale. In targeting illegal immigrants, the government's dragnet is likely to sweep up huge numbers of citizens, both native-born and legal immigrants. Would employers facing large fines really fight to keep workers -- even perfectly legal ones -- whose documents were marred by a discrepancy?"
The Washington Post assumes there will be problems implementing the new DHS policy. Mr. Chertoff seems to imply any problems will be easy to remedy within 90 days. IS there any evidence that government can get administrative work like this done in 90 days? The recent change in passport policy and the resultant delays suggests what could happen in the no-match world. It is hard to understand why the Secretary can say the Post's concern is "simply wrong."
Mr. Chertoff says the Post's real objection has to do with the potential negative economic consequences. He writes "... my Department is charged with enforcing the law as it is. Those who say we should only make a tepid effort to enforce the law are really asking us to pursue a silent amnesty."
Mr. Chertoff goes on to say that "People often wonder why it’s so difficult for the government to get a grip on illegal immigration. But interest groups often work to slow or stop our efforts through lawsuits or political pressure. We need to decide as a nation if we’re going to be serious about solving this problem. It is up to Congress to enact legislation that will fix the problem comprehensively. Until then, we shouldn’t tie the hands of the men and women trying to enforce the law as it is."
The New York Times editorial he writes about describes examples of government agents "enforcing the law as it is." To wit: "Armed squads bursting into homes in the dead of night with shotguns and automatic weapons, terrorizing families and taking away anyone who lacks identity papers, even if they have raided the wrong house."
The Nassau County executive and police commissioner -- who one assumes are as interested in getting criminals off the street as is Mr. Chertoff -- refuse "to cooperate on further raids until ICE gets its act together." The Nassau officials then describe "... a seriously botched 'cowboy' operation by dozens of ICE agents — some in cowboy hats — who had not trained together, used inappropriate weapons and mistakenly drew them on Nassau officers."
The DHS is as much of an interest group as anyone else in this political process. It is disingenuous to play the role of the noble sheriff only here to "enforce the law." It too has a political perspective on immigration. How about adopting a problem solving perspective in addition? We do not need to wait for Congress to act. Leadership, not new laws or regulations, is what's needed here.
October 5, 2007 3:04 PM
Anonymous said...
All the laws agianst illegal immigration NEED TO BE ENFORCED! The NO-MATCH LETTERS are NEEDED! They will not be a huge problem for employers! They will not be a huge problem for real U.S. citizens......they will ONLY be a problem for illegal aliens!
I have some experience with this in fact! I once did not bother to chance my name after getting married, so my SSN still said my "maiden name". When a problem came up with a tax return I went down to the social security office, filled out the paperwork, showed them my marriage certificate...and BINGO! It was done! EASY! QUICK! NO PROBLEM! ALL FIXED! So do not tell me it will cause any problem for any employer or LEGAL CITIZEN employee!
October 5, 2007 9:23 PM
Anonymous said...
It isn't difficult to make changes with the SSA if you are a citizen or immigrant who has a green card.
When I married I had to show my naturalization papers and my marriage certificate and I was issued a new card. I did not have any problems and I am hispanic.
No match letters are a great start, but more is needed.
Thank you and please keep enforcing the current laws!
October 8, 2007 1:07 AM
Anonymous said...
Today I heard that the special interest groups won. That the "No-Match" letters will not be sent out at this time! How could we/you let this happen? Doesn't that Judge see that all working illegal aliens are commiting ID Theft and Fraud by using STOLEN and FAKE SSN's to gain employment? I do not appove of any Judge who protects the "Thief" and not the US Citizens whose I.D./SSN is being stolen! YOU MUST APPEAL IMMEADITYLY! There MUST be a way around this ruling!This time choose your own Judge....a much better one! The majority of citizens still demand enforcement of immigration laws!
October 10, 2007 10:21 PM
Anonymous said...
In the wake of the court decision against the administration's efforts to use Social Security "no-match" letters to out illegal aliens, White House now faces a test. DHS Secretary Chertoff has said "will examine all of our options, including appeal"; if they decide not to appeal, we will know for sure that the new emphasis on immigration enforcement was just for show.
I and others had thought the new enforcement push was, in Mickey Kaus's words, a "Leninesque attempt to heighten the contradictions and create pressure for legalization by demonstrating to business and the media that actually enforcing the existing immigration laws is intolerable."
I don't mean to be paranoid, but maybe we were wrong — maybe the whole point was to get the thing swatted down by some Clinton-appointed judge in San Francisco so they could shrug their shoulders and say, "well, we tried — now there's really no solution but amnesty."
I don't want to wade into the middle of an argument over the death penalty, but if this is what the administration is thinking of doing, it's analogous to a recent comment: "one subsidiary argument for abolition is that our use of the death penalty is too slow and rare to be serious."
In other words, if radical lawyers, on and off the bench, are successful in obstructing something (whether executions or deportations or anything else), we should give up trying.
Obviously illegal aliens aren't the same as murderers, but the point is the same — letting the left drive the agenda. I would counter with a rule of thumb that the importance of pursuing a policy goal grows in direct proportion to the left's opposition to it.
October 11, 2007 5:29 PM
Anonymous said...
I still want full enforcement of immigration laws, regaurdless of what some wacky-liberal-slanted Judge rules.
Even if it means calling for a emergency Congress session to pass updated amendments to laws, to render enforcement easier and faster!
We will not stand for "waiting" until a year from now! We want it taken care of "yesterday"!
October 11, 2007 7:10 PM
Anonymous said...
JUDGES GONE WILD.
APPEAL! APPEAL! And hurry it up, because we don’t want to drag this on into the next Administration! We are “wise” to that.
Ask Congress to immediately change or amends the laws to allow government departments to share vital information! Such as the DHS and the SSN for starters!
Despite what some “San Francisco-liberal” Judges says; Mr. Chertoff, if you do not enforce our federal immigration laws, the American citizens will! We are losing patience.
If I hear one more special interest group say we need “Comprehensive Reform” I will scream! Comprehensive = Amnesty at taxpayer expense and loss of National Sovereignty. NO AMNESTY. Just enforce the laws in a speedily-timely manner. Whatever it takes. Thank you.
October 11, 2007 8:13 PM
Anonymous said...
“No-Match” Letters:
The recent ruling to put the “No-Match” letters on hold is clearly wrong! The way-off liberal Judge has no business trying to impose his “personal-liberal-leaning-beliefs” on the rest of us! His only job is too upholding the federal laws. Clearly the DHS has the right to worksite enforcement of the use of “illegal aliens”. That was granted to you by Congress.
Just because some wacky judge “believes” personally that we should have so-called Comprehensive reform are not grounds to “legislate from the bench”! As I said; his only job is too enforce our existing federal laws. The rouge judge does harm to American citizens; while attempting to protect people who have committed federal crimes; such as ID theft and fraud.
It is a good public service for US citizens to know if there is any miss-spelling or discrepancy with their social security number! If such a discrepancy exists; they will not be able to collect SS benefits for all the years the miss-spelling or discrepancy occurred! So it is better to find out early in life rather than waiting until retirement and finding out you can not collect because of a miss-spelling 20 to 40 years prior!
Illegal aliens are committing ID theft and fraud daily by using stolen and fake social security numbers in workplaces and that is a federal crime! We already know that most of un-matching SSN’s are probable illegal aliens committing theses crimes, why would ANY judge in his right mind not want to enforce the law?
The employers are also breaking the law by employing these illegal aliens and need to be exposed & held accountable! If their staff is mostly illegal aliens then they should suffer the consequences by losing them! It was there “illegal-choice” to begin with!
We do NOT want any “so-called” Comprehensive Reform; that will hurt America, and it’s citizens, downgrade our lifestyle, downgrade our paychecks; increase crime, increase taxes; increase sprawl; devastate the public school system; and if granted amnesty or any type of legal status, illegal aliens will then be able to qualify for MORE free benefits than they are currently collecting at taxpayer expense! That’s not fair to real US citizens!
APEAL! Go to the Supreme Court and have the wacky judges ruling overturned immediately! ENFORCE THE LAWS AGIANST ILLEGAL ALIENS! “Attrition through enforcement” is the correct way to handle them!
Americans will never accept any “amnesty”; not ever!
October 12, 2007 7:29 AM
sunny said...
Secretary Chertoff, Employment-based legal immigration is currently facing some of the worst waiting periods in the recent past. Applicants have to wait for as many as 6-8 years to finish the final phase of immigration due to the lack of employment-based green card numbers (also known as green card retrogression) stemming from certain bureaucratic delays, flawed practices and procedures, and arcane laws which are not taking into account industry needs.
More than 350,000 applicants were delayed in obtaining certification from the US Department of Labor as high-skilled workers who are not displacing existing American workers in the market. Legal immigrants have waited an average of 3 years to obtain labor certification, a process that was intended to take 60 days. Subsequent to certification, in addition to rigorous processing stages by the USCIS, employment based immigrants still face prolonged wait times for adjustment of status.
It should noted that most of us have already been working in the U.S. for the past 5-6 years (on an average) and contributing to the U.S. economy in the form of taxes etc. - some of which we do not derive any benefit from. This also hurts the businesses - like my employer - because they have to wait indefinitely to hire talented applicants on a permanent basis. This is a very important issue for all parties involved and will determine whether the United States of America remains competitive in the fields of science and technology and retains the best talent from around the world.
I came to US pursuing my graduate studies in high-tech and legally working since past 7 years but I could not get a permanent residency due to retrogression of green card numbers. Many legal immigration have created very successful companies in the silicon valley which created lot of business and employ US citizens. US is loosing talented people to other countries, I am afraid to mention that if this trend continues then US might loose the advantage of being the techonology innovator. I urge USCIS to make green card numbers available to retrogressed countries.
November 19, 2007 5:30 PM
Anonymous said...
Secretary Chertoff,
I would like to bring to your attention some of the issues faced by a group that's often overlooked in the immigration debate - the skilled immigrants.
- The per country limit of 7% is unfair to people from large countries like India and China. It leads to huge backlogs for us simply because inflow is much greater than outflow (getting a Green Card). I would suggest one of the two solutions depending on what the priorities of this country are. 1) Remove the per country limits and ensure fairness to skilled workers of all countries. 2) Enforce the 7% per country limit while issuing work visas, so that inflow is equal to outflow and there are no backlogs.
- A lot of EB immigrants are stuck in the FBI name checks for years. Firstly, it defeats the purpose of the name checks since a potential terrorist can use this time to plot and execute attacks on Americans. Secondly, innocent people have to suffer the consequences of being stuck in the process for years. Currently, there is no avenue for the helpless EB immigrants to speed up this process. This can be solved by providing FBI more funds to speed up the name check process and to enforce a hard deadline of 3-6 months beyond which the name check cannot be held up by the FBI.
Under the current system, a skilled immigrant from India or China could have to wait for 6-10 years after filing a labor certification to get a Green Card. Although the AC21 law provides some flexibility in terms of changing jobs, one would still have to stick to the same role during that time. Most skilled immigrants are ambitious enough to want to move to more challenging positions in 6-10 years and this backlog makes sure that their potential remains untapped. I don't know of any skilled immigrant who would want to do the same thing for 6-10 years but many are forced to.
Thank you for your time.
November 19, 2007 5:49 PM
Anonymous said...
Secretary Chertoff, The appeal cases are taking a long time to process by the Administrative Appeals office in washington DC, especially for the skilled immigration category EB1 EA. The current processing times are 9 months and there is no customer service phone to the AAO office. I would request for a faster processing time.
November 21, 2007 11:13 AM
Anonymous said...
Name Check, Name Check, Name check!!! Can someone do something about this please. We paid so much in time and money to immigration lawyers and taxes...etc. We have the right to get our name check cleared after 30months or more. PLEASE whoever is reading and taking notes do something about the NAME CHECK HELL!!!
December 2, 2007 8:31 AM
Anonymous said...
What is the "economic benefit" of illegal immigrant workers? 10 years ago, the Rand Corporation pegged the net drain on the economy from illegal aliens at $1 billion annually. That is, if you add up all the economic contributions, work, taxes, etc. that illegal aliens contribute, and then subtract all the benefits they receive, welfare, etc., you have a net loss of $1 billion! The whole "they just want to come here to work" ploy is a hoax. I read a recent article pegging the net drain on society nowadays at $10 billion. Meanwhile, legal immigrants suffer. Legal immigrants sign a pledge that they won't receive any form of welfare payment for 10 years upon becoming a citizen, regardless of what they've paid in taxes. Illegal immigrants sign no such pledge, and thus freely obtain public assistance. Many countries illegal immigrants come from have jobs, what they don't have is a massive welfare system. Illegal immigrants additionally receive the benefit of a massive infrastructure that they didn't pay for, but will bleed dry. Witness the closure of hospitals here in California for a hint of the discrepancy between those that pay for things and those that receive the benefit.
December 2, 2007 7:06 PM
Anonymous said...
First of all, I really would like to know how construction, restaurants, and hotel would handle the expeling of all immigrants. I would really like to see that happening. Second, I would really like to highlight that USA is the only country that does not treasure the specialists. People with education are not welcome in this country, they are to be waiting in a huge line of VISAS availability until an officer has the goodwill of granting a so hard-to-get I140 and I485 approval. Citzens have no idea what immigrants with special skills go through, people who would bring money and technology to the country. And in a very smart way the immigration law is in favor of illigal immigration due to the bad immigration services provided. Just something to really think about. Even Europe treasures education more than USA. Anyways, somethings to be thought of.
January 1, 2008 11:58 AM
Anonymous said...
You are all forgetting that the largest "special interest" in this debate is CORPORATIONS. They are the ones that are not just hiring, but actually RECRUITING unauthorized labor.
If you have a problem with "illegal" immigration, I suggest you boycott the corporations that actively seek out this type of labor. You can start with the agriculture industry.
May 23, 2008 9:37 AM
Two editorials in today’s Washington Post and New York Times offer a good illustration of the kind of obstacles our Department faces in dealing with the problem of illegal immigration.
The Washington Post writes that our use of Social Security no-match letters to prevent the hiring of illegal workers actually harms legal workers as well. That is simply not true. Legal workers can provide any number of identity documents to establish or clarify their work eligibility, including a passport. Having incorrect information in our databases, such as a name and Social Security Number that do not match, is not grounds for termination. Moreover, employees have up to 90 days to resolve a no-match issue, which is ample time to update information in our system. And it is hardly a good idea to discourage legal workers from correcting errors that may cost them benefits in future years.
[Photo]But the Post raises what I suspect is the real argument being mounted against the no-match rule. The Post asserts that there will be negative economic consequences if illegal workers are fired due to receipt of a no-match letter. That may be true; it’s the reason we supported immigration reform earlier this year. But the fact remains – Congress rejected the reform measure. So my Department is charged with enforcing the law as it is. Those who say we should only make a tepid effort to enforce the law are really asking us to pursue a silent amnesty.
The New York Times editorial staff also hyperventilates today about our efforts to apprehend criminal gang affiliates in the New York area as part of a nationwide initiative to take dangerous illegal aliens off the street. Our recent enforcement actions in Long Island resulted in more than 185 people being picked up for illegal presence in the country. One-third had criminal records. I can’t imagine any community that would urge us to leave illegal alien criminals alone.
People often wonder why it’s so difficult for the government to get a grip on illegal immigration. But interest groups often work to slow or stop our efforts through lawsuits or political pressure. We need to decide as a nation if we’re going to be serious about solving this problem. It is up to Congress to enact legislation that will fix the problem comprehensively. Until then, we shouldn’t tie the hands of the men and women trying to enforce the law as it is.
20 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formSecretary Chertoff,
I have been critical of the efforts of our gov't in enforcing current laws on illegal immigration. Today I want to thank you for standing up to those interests and not allowing them to continue to tie the hands of law enforcement. Now if our country could do something about all of those sanctuary cities, and continue building the border fences, we will all be better off. All Americans at least.
Thanks again.
October 5, 2007 10:49 AM
The Post is right on the bad economic outcomes...that is what is desired. We want it to be bad.
It is SUPPOSED to be a DISincentive which they seem not to be able to comprehend.
We want laws that are: Harsh, Punitive, and unfair. That is the reason for disincentives.
What do they expect would be the outcome of a cute fuzzy free medical care being proposed...
We already are having a huge influx of "Birthright Tourism" from Jamica with brochures being put out to get people to come here late term in pregnancy and give birth here. So they can sue or stay and get all the goodies we promise.
That is why Birthright citizenship has been given up by all other First World countries. Ireland and Australia stopped it in the last few years. We are the only fools left on the now eroding hill.
October 5, 2007 12:27 PM
I want all the current laws agianst illegal immigration enforced! Can't Congress pass some emergency legislation to stop all the frivolous lawsuits being brought on by special interest groups? The Amercian people do not want illegal aliens here in this country. We want the laws aggressively enforced. We cannot continue being "held hostage" by illegal aliens and a few extreme special interest groups!
October 5, 2007 1:09 PM
I have a big concern with Driver's License's now being issued to illegal aliens in some states. This is a set-up for voter-fraud. Most states accept just a drivers license as proof-of-citizenship to register to vote. So how can we make sure illegal aliens with drivers license cannot cast a vote in our elections? Along with a fake or stolen SSN, any drivers license issued to an illegal alien can be used as fraud to claim benefits that are only available to US Citizens and to cast votes in our elections! We can no longer accept a drivers license as ID for legal employment or to Vote! We must remove that document from the "acceptable documents" list
October 5, 2007 1:17 PM
Thanks, keep up the good work.
Yes, the Sanctuary ideas need to be addressed in the same harsh methods as the illegals. Either announce the reduction of DHS funds or Pull the tax exemption of the religious groups. Ive written the IRS commissioner and they wont touch it. See if you guys can grow a set and take it on.
If you do not, Im hearing some of the groups are going to start making Citizen Arrest of the gal holed up in the Simi Valley church.
You need to inform the states very up front that there will be consequences for not getting in line with the REAL ID act. My state is one of the best with tight rules for Drivers License. Ive been asking our state reps to put a law in action where our state will NOT RECIPROCATE with other states DL if they are given out to illegals.
October 5, 2007 2:13 PM
Mr. Chertoff says the two editorials illustrate the obstacles the Department faces dealing with the problem of illegal immigration. Mr. Chertoff asserts that it is not true that the non-match letter policy will harm legal workers.
The Washington Post article claims there is a "probability of bureaucratic confusion on an epic scale. In targeting illegal immigrants, the government's dragnet is likely to sweep up huge numbers of citizens, both native-born and legal immigrants. Would employers facing large fines really fight to keep workers -- even perfectly legal ones -- whose documents were marred by a discrepancy?"
The Washington Post assumes there will be problems implementing the new DHS policy. Mr. Chertoff seems to imply any problems will be easy to remedy within 90 days. IS there any evidence that government can get administrative work like this done in 90 days? The recent change in passport policy and the resultant delays suggests what could happen in the no-match world. It is hard to understand why the Secretary can say the Post's concern is "simply wrong."
Mr. Chertoff says the Post's real objection has to do with the potential negative economic consequences. He writes "... my Department is charged with enforcing the law as it is. Those who say we should only make a tepid effort to enforce the law are really asking us to pursue a silent amnesty."
Mr. Chertoff goes on to say that "People often wonder why it’s so difficult for the government to get a grip on illegal immigration. But interest groups often work to slow or stop our efforts through lawsuits or political pressure. We need to decide as a nation if we’re going to be serious about solving this problem. It is up to Congress to enact legislation that will fix the problem comprehensively. Until then, we shouldn’t tie the hands of the men and women trying to enforce the law as it is."
The New York Times editorial he writes about describes examples of government agents "enforcing the law as it is." To wit: "Armed squads bursting into homes in the dead of night with shotguns and automatic weapons, terrorizing families and taking away anyone who lacks identity papers, even if they have raided the wrong house."
The Nassau County executive and police commissioner -- who one assumes are as interested in getting criminals off the street as is Mr. Chertoff -- refuse "to cooperate on further raids until ICE gets its act together." The Nassau officials then describe "... a seriously botched 'cowboy' operation by dozens of ICE agents — some in cowboy hats — who had not trained together, used inappropriate weapons and mistakenly drew them on Nassau officers."
The DHS is as much of an interest group as anyone else in this political process. It is disingenuous to play the role of the noble sheriff only here to "enforce the law." It too has a political perspective on immigration. How about adopting a problem solving perspective in addition? We do not need to wait for Congress to act. Leadership, not new laws or regulations, is what's needed here.
October 5, 2007 3:04 PM
All the laws agianst illegal immigration NEED TO BE ENFORCED! The NO-MATCH LETTERS are NEEDED! They will not be a huge problem for employers! They will not be a huge problem for real U.S. citizens......they will ONLY be a problem for illegal aliens!
I have some experience with this in fact! I once did not bother to chance my name after getting married, so my SSN still said my "maiden name". When a problem came up with a tax return I went down to the social security office, filled out the paperwork, showed them my marriage certificate...and BINGO! It was done! EASY! QUICK! NO PROBLEM! ALL FIXED! So do not tell me it will cause any problem for any employer or LEGAL CITIZEN employee!
October 5, 2007 9:23 PM
It isn't difficult to make changes with the SSA if you are a citizen or immigrant who has a green card.
When I married I had to show my naturalization papers and my marriage certificate and I was issued a new card. I did not have any problems and I am hispanic.
No match letters are a great start, but more is needed.
Thank you and please keep enforcing the current laws!
October 8, 2007 1:07 AM
Today I heard that the special interest groups won. That the "No-Match" letters will not be sent out at this time! How could we/you let this happen? Doesn't that Judge see that all working illegal aliens are commiting ID Theft and Fraud by using STOLEN and FAKE SSN's to gain employment? I do not appove of any Judge who protects the "Thief" and not the US Citizens whose I.D./SSN is being stolen!
YOU MUST APPEAL IMMEADITYLY! There MUST be a way around this ruling!This time choose your own Judge....a much better one!
The majority of citizens still demand enforcement of immigration laws!
October 10, 2007 10:21 PM
In the wake of the court decision against the administration's efforts to use Social Security "no-match" letters to out illegal aliens, White House now faces a test. DHS Secretary Chertoff has said "will examine all of our options, including appeal"; if they decide not to appeal, we will know for sure that the new emphasis on immigration enforcement was just for show.
I and others had thought the new enforcement push was, in Mickey Kaus's words, a "Leninesque attempt to heighten the contradictions and create pressure for legalization by demonstrating to business and the media that actually enforcing the existing immigration laws is intolerable."
I don't mean to be paranoid, but maybe we were wrong — maybe the whole point was to get the thing swatted down by some Clinton-appointed judge in San Francisco so they could shrug their shoulders and say, "well, we tried — now there's really no solution but amnesty."
I don't want to wade into the middle of an argument over the death penalty, but if this is what the administration is thinking of doing, it's analogous to a recent comment: "one subsidiary argument for abolition is that our use of the death penalty is too slow and rare to be serious."
In other words, if radical lawyers, on and off the bench, are successful in obstructing something (whether executions or deportations or anything else), we should give up trying.
Obviously illegal aliens aren't the same as murderers, but the point is the same — letting the left drive the agenda. I would counter with a rule of thumb that the importance of pursuing a policy goal grows in direct proportion to the left's opposition to it.
October 11, 2007 5:29 PM
I still want full enforcement of immigration laws, regaurdless of what some wacky-liberal-slanted Judge rules.
Even if it means calling for a emergency Congress session to pass updated amendments to laws, to render enforcement easier and faster!
We will not stand for "waiting" until a year from now! We want it taken care of "yesterday"!
October 11, 2007 7:10 PM
JUDGES GONE WILD.
APPEAL! APPEAL! And hurry it up, because we don’t want to drag this on into the next Administration! We are “wise” to that.
Ask Congress to immediately change or amends the laws to allow government departments to share vital information! Such as the DHS and the SSN for starters!
Despite what some “San Francisco-liberal” Judges says; Mr. Chertoff, if you do not enforce our federal immigration laws, the American citizens will! We are losing patience.
If I hear one more special interest group say we need “Comprehensive Reform” I will scream! Comprehensive = Amnesty at taxpayer expense and loss of National Sovereignty. NO AMNESTY. Just enforce the laws in a speedily-timely manner. Whatever it takes. Thank you.
October 11, 2007 8:13 PM
“No-Match” Letters:
The recent ruling to put the “No-Match” letters on hold is clearly wrong!
The way-off liberal Judge has no business trying to impose his “personal-liberal-leaning-beliefs” on the rest of us! His only job is too upholding the federal laws. Clearly the DHS has the right to worksite enforcement of the use of “illegal aliens”. That was granted to you by Congress.
Just because some wacky judge “believes” personally that we should have so-called Comprehensive reform are not grounds to “legislate from the bench”! As I said; his only job is too enforce our existing federal laws. The rouge judge does harm to American citizens; while attempting to protect people who have committed federal crimes; such as ID theft and fraud.
It is a good public service for US citizens to know if there is any miss-spelling or discrepancy with their social security number! If such a discrepancy exists; they will not be able to collect SS benefits for all the years the miss-spelling or discrepancy occurred! So it is better to find out early in life rather than waiting until retirement and finding out you can not collect because of a miss-spelling 20 to 40 years prior!
Illegal aliens are committing ID theft and fraud daily by using stolen and fake social security numbers in workplaces and that is a federal crime! We already know that most of un-matching SSN’s are probable illegal aliens committing theses crimes, why would ANY judge in his right mind not want to enforce the law?
The employers are also breaking the law by employing these illegal aliens and need to be exposed & held accountable! If their staff is mostly illegal aliens then they should suffer the consequences by losing them! It was there “illegal-choice” to begin with!
We do NOT want any “so-called” Comprehensive Reform; that will hurt America, and it’s citizens, downgrade our lifestyle, downgrade our paychecks; increase crime, increase taxes; increase sprawl; devastate the public school system; and if granted amnesty or any type of legal status, illegal aliens will then be able to qualify for MORE free benefits than they are currently collecting at taxpayer expense! That’s not fair to real US citizens!
APEAL! Go to the Supreme Court and have the wacky judges ruling overturned immediately! ENFORCE THE LAWS AGIANST ILLEGAL ALIENS! “Attrition through enforcement” is the correct way to handle them!
Americans will never accept any “amnesty”; not ever!
October 12, 2007 7:29 AM
Secretary Chertoff,
Employment-based legal immigration is currently facing some of the worst waiting periods in the recent past. Applicants have to wait for as many as 6-8 years to finish the final phase of immigration due to the lack of employment-based green card numbers (also known as green card retrogression) stemming from certain bureaucratic delays, flawed practices and procedures, and arcane laws which are not taking into account industry needs.
More than 350,000 applicants were delayed in obtaining certification from the US Department of Labor as high-skilled workers who are not displacing existing American workers in the market. Legal immigrants have waited an average of 3 years to obtain labor certification, a process that was intended to take 60 days. Subsequent to certification, in addition to rigorous processing stages by the USCIS, employment based immigrants still face prolonged wait times for adjustment of status.
It should noted that most of us have already been working in the U.S. for the past 5-6 years (on an average) and contributing to the U.S. economy in the form of taxes etc. - some of which we do not derive any benefit from. This also hurts the businesses - like my employer - because they have to wait indefinitely to hire talented applicants on a permanent basis. This is a very important issue for all parties involved and will determine whether the United States of America remains competitive in the fields of science and technology and retains the best talent from around the world.
I came to US pursuing my graduate studies in high-tech and legally working since past 7 years but I could not get a permanent residency due to retrogression of green card numbers. Many legal immigration have created very successful companies in the silicon valley which created lot of business and employ US citizens. US is loosing talented people to other countries, I am afraid to mention that if this trend continues then US might loose the advantage of being the techonology innovator.
I urge USCIS to make green card numbers available to retrogressed countries.
November 19, 2007 5:30 PM
Secretary Chertoff,
I would like to bring to your attention some of the issues faced by a group that's often overlooked in the immigration debate - the skilled immigrants.
- The per country limit of 7% is unfair to people from large countries like India and China. It leads to huge backlogs for us simply because inflow is much greater than outflow (getting a Green Card). I would suggest one of the two solutions depending on what the priorities of this country are. 1) Remove the per country limits and ensure fairness to skilled workers of all countries.
2) Enforce the 7% per country limit while issuing work visas, so that inflow is equal to outflow and there are no backlogs.
- A lot of EB immigrants are stuck in the FBI name checks for years. Firstly, it defeats the purpose of the name checks since a potential terrorist can use this time to plot and execute attacks on Americans. Secondly, innocent people have to suffer the consequences of being stuck in the process for years. Currently, there is no avenue for the helpless EB immigrants to speed up this process. This can be solved by providing FBI more funds to speed up the name check process and to enforce a hard deadline of 3-6 months beyond which the name check cannot be held up by the FBI.
Under the current system, a skilled immigrant from India or China could have to wait for 6-10 years after filing a labor certification to get a Green Card. Although the AC21 law provides some flexibility in terms of changing jobs, one would still have to stick to the same role during that time. Most skilled immigrants are ambitious enough to want to move to more challenging positions in 6-10 years and this backlog makes sure that their potential remains untapped. I don't know of any skilled immigrant who would want to do the same thing for 6-10 years but many are forced to.
Thank you for your time.
November 19, 2007 5:49 PM
Secretary Chertoff,
The appeal cases are taking a long time to process by the Administrative Appeals office in washington DC, especially for the skilled immigration category EB1 EA. The current processing times are 9 months and there is no customer service phone to the AAO office. I would request for a faster processing time.
November 21, 2007 11:13 AM
Name Check, Name Check, Name check!!! Can someone do something about this please. We paid so much in time and money to immigration lawyers and taxes...etc. We have the right to get our name check cleared after 30months or more. PLEASE whoever is reading and taking notes do something about the NAME CHECK HELL!!!
December 2, 2007 8:31 AM
What is the "economic benefit" of illegal immigrant workers? 10 years ago, the Rand Corporation pegged the net drain on the economy from illegal aliens at $1 billion annually. That is, if you add up all the economic contributions, work, taxes, etc. that illegal aliens contribute, and then subtract all the benefits they receive, welfare, etc., you have a net loss of $1 billion! The whole "they just want to come here to work" ploy is a hoax. I read a recent article pegging the net drain on society nowadays at $10 billion. Meanwhile, legal immigrants suffer. Legal immigrants sign a pledge that they won't receive any form of welfare payment for 10 years upon becoming a citizen, regardless of what they've paid in taxes. Illegal immigrants sign no such pledge, and thus freely obtain public assistance. Many countries illegal immigrants come from have jobs, what they don't have is a massive welfare system. Illegal immigrants additionally receive the benefit of a massive infrastructure that they didn't pay for, but will bleed dry. Witness the closure of hospitals here in California for a hint of the discrepancy between those that pay for things and those that receive the benefit.
December 2, 2007 7:06 PM
First of all, I really would like to know how construction, restaurants, and hotel would handle the expeling of all immigrants. I would really like to see that happening. Second, I would really like to highlight that USA is the only country that does not treasure the specialists. People with education are not welcome in this country, they are to be waiting in a huge line of VISAS availability until an officer has the goodwill of granting a so hard-to-get I140 and I485 approval. Citzens have no idea what immigrants with special skills go through, people who would bring money and technology to the country. And in a very smart way the immigration law is in favor of illigal immigration due to the bad immigration services provided. Just something to really think about. Even Europe treasures education more than USA. Anyways, somethings to be thought of.
January 1, 2008 11:58 AM
You are all forgetting that the largest "special interest" in this debate is CORPORATIONS. They are the ones that are not just hiring, but actually RECRUITING unauthorized labor.
If you have a problem with "illegal" immigration, I suggest you boycott the corporations that actively seek out this type of labor. You can start with the agriculture industry.
May 23, 2008 9:37 AM