No Bluff


When the White House maintained on its blog on August 18 "Under the President’s direction, for the first time ever the Department of Homeland Security has prioritized the removal of people who have been convicted of crimes in the United States," howls of protest arose among conservatives. Typical was the reaction from this fellow, who termed it "an amnesty" representing "an administrative end-around Congress."

Most of the GOP presidential candidates, not surprisingly, appear to be taking a hard line on immigration, with Ron Paul in Orlando succinctly summarizing their stance: "What you need to do is attack their benefits: no free education, no free subsidies, no citizenship, no birth-right citizenship." None will declare, or at least admit, his/her support for the Dream Act.

In a prior debate (in Tampa), however, Jon Huntsman struck an Obama-like pose, advocating "an honest conversation in this country about the root causes? We can't process people. The H1B visa process is broken. We need to bring in brain power to this country to shore up our economic might. We need to bring in foreign capital to raise real estate prices, as well. We need a fixed Department of Homeland Security."

If the GOP believed the President was kidding around or pretending to oppose "amnesty," however, they guessed wrong. Though many critics of a tough (or punitive, as they see it) immigration policy assert "we can't round them (illegal immigrants) up, The Voice of America reported yesterday


The United States says it has arrested 2,900 illegal immigrants — all with prior criminal convictions — during a seven-day sweep across the country.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday the operation was the largest of its kind, leading to arrests in all 50 U.S. states and in four U.S. territories.

The arrests come a month after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said a new focus would be put on deporting criminals and serious violators of immigration law.

More than 1,200 of the illegal immigrants arrested in last week's operation had multiple convictions, while more than 1,600 had convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, sexual crimes against minors, drug trafficking and armed robbery.

The ICE-led operation, dubbed “Cross Check,” follows several similar operations that have resulted in the arrest of more 4,500 convicted illegal immigrants since 2009.

The difference, of course, is that these are illegal immigrants who have committed a crime. Conservatives- most, though far from all, Republicans- advocate a border fence. Newt Gingrich has a truly noxious idea, making English the official language, making things as difficult as possible for legal (as well as illegal) immigrants, especially when they have to communicate with government officials and employees

But progress constructing a border fence was slow even before deficit hysteria hit Washington. Republicans, who nowadays never met a government program (except weapons systems) they like or a tax they support, ought to specify where the money is going to come from. Meanwhile, as the White House's website argues, "the Administration has developed a strategy to make sure we use those resources in a way that puts public safety and national security first."

Border security is all well and good- and the Obama Administration has increased the number of "boots on the ground," in the words of Rick Macho Perry, who has avoided admitting the President has done so. But the dream of a hardened fence at all points between Mexico and the U.S.A. is just that- a dream, which will not be fulfilled by President Obama or by any Republican who succeeds him. While rhetoric proves cheap, the Department of Homeland Security has struck a blow against illegal immigration, aided law enforcement, and looks about as "fixed" as anything does in Washington these days.

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