Obama on border security … “I fixed it, now let’s talk amnesty”

No, you didn’t. President Obama sent out an email to supporters yesterday claiming he’s solved the border security problem so now it’s time to fix our immigration system and move forward on amnesty. In reality, the Great Recession and the economic downturn is what reduced the number of illegal aliens crossing the border, not security improvements.

The good folks who live on or near the border can rightly speak about the security situation on the border, and with the escalating violence you can ask them if a drop in the number of illegal crossings has made them feel any safer. The president simply ignored the security concerns – brushing them off completely as a matter of fact – and is 100 percent into campaign mode, suggesting every concerned citizen cough up $5 in the fight to bring another amnesty program to the United States.

I want to hear your comments about the president’s own words…

In recent years, concerns about whether border security and enforcement were tough enough were among the greatest impediments to comprehensive reform. They are legitimate issues that needed to be addressed — and over the past two years, we have made great strides in enhancing security and enforcement.

We have more boots on the ground working to secure our southwest border than at any time in our history. We’re going after employers who knowingly break the law. And we are deporting those who are here illegally.

And this…

So we’ve addressed the concerns raised by those who have stood in the way of progress in the past.

The Pew Research Center released a report indicating the illegal immigration flow has dropped quite a bit since 2005.

This sharp decline has contributed to an overall reduction of 8% in the number of unauthorized immigrants currently living in the U.S.-to 11.1 million in March 2009 from a peak of 12 million in March 2007, according to the estimates. The decrease represents the first significant reversal in the growth of this population over the past two decades.

Isn’t the Great Recession generally defined as starting sometime in 2007? Makes you go hummmm.

Could it be that a significant portion of the reduction in illegal aliens crossing into the country or staying here in the United States was a direct result of the economic downturn? Certainly improved enforcement may have had a part, but why did Obama not point out the Great Recession – that evil period of time George W. Bush was in office – as a major significant factor to reducing the problem?

Our economic problems are a significant reason why a much smaller number of illegal aliens are coming to the United States. Would the president admit such a thing?

Let’s give credit where credit is due. The Obama administration claims they have increased the number of criminal alien removals [aren’t all illegal aliens criminals?] by 70 percent as compared to the previous administration. Are they playing politics with the wording of this statement?

In fiscal year 2010, ICE set a record for overall removals of illegal aliens, with more than 392,000 removals nationwide. Half of those removed—more than 195,000—were convicted criminals. The fiscal year 2010 statistics represent increases of more than 23,000 removals overall and 81,000 criminal removals compared to fiscal year 2008—a more than 70 percent increase in removal of criminal aliens from the previous administration.

Of course they are … they fail to mention the total number of illegal aliens currently stands at a bit over 11 million – most likely under-estimated. They removed about 3.5 percent. Since you won’t find too many people suggesting we keep the convicted criminals around, that means 197,000 people (1.8 percent of illegal aliens) – just looking to find a good job – were sent on their way.

That was a small price for the open border crowd to pay in return for creating and passing another amnesty program.

Update: Michelle Malkin’s syndicated column today covers the re-emergence of amnesty.

The text of Obama’s campaign letter is below.

Friend —

I went to El Paso, Texas, today to lay out a plan to do something big: fix America’s broken immigration system.

It’s an issue that affects you, whether you live in a border town like El Paso or not. Our immigration system reflects how we define ourselves as Americans — who we are, who we will be — and continued inaction poses serious costs for everyone.

Those costs are human, felt by millions of people here and abroad who endure years of separation or deferred dreams — and millions more hardworking families whose wages are depressed when employers wrongly exploit a cheap source of labor. That’s why immigration reform is also an economic imperative — an essential step needed to strengthen our middle class, create new industries and new jobs, and make sure America remains competitive in the global economy.

Because this is such a tough problem — one that politicians in Washington have been either exploiting or dodging, depending on the politics — this change has to be driven by people like you.

Washington won’t act unless you lead.

So if you’re willing to do something about this critical issue, join our call for immigration reform now. Those who do will be part of our campaign to educate people on this issue and build the critical mass needed to make Washington act:

In recent years, concerns about whether border security and enforcement were tough enough were among the greatest impediments to comprehensive reform. They are legitimate issues that needed to be addressed — and over the past two years, we have made great strides in enhancing security and enforcement.

We have more boots on the ground working to secure our southwest border than at any time in our history. We’re going after employers who knowingly break the law. And we are deporting those who are here illegally. I know the increase in deportations has been a source of controversy, but I want to emphasize that we are focusing our limited resources on violent offenders and people convicted of crimes — not families or people looking to scrape together an income.

So we’ve addressed the concerns raised by those who have stood in the way of progress in the past. And now that we have, it’s time to build an immigration system that meets our 21st-century economic needs and reflects our values both as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

Today, we provide students from around the world with visas to get engineering and computer science degrees at our top universities. But then our laws discourage them from using those skills to start a business or a new industry here in the United States. That just doesn’t make sense.

We also need to stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents — and pass the DREAM Act so they can pursue higher education or become military service members in the country they know as home. We already know enormous economic benefits from the steady stream of talented and hardworking people coming to America. More than a century and a half ago, U.S. Steel’s Andrew Carnegie was a 13-year-old brought here from Scotland by his family in search of a better life. And in 1979, a Russian family seeking freedom from Communism brought a young Sergey Brin to America — where he would become a co-founder of Google.

Through immigration, we’ve become an engine of the global economy and a beacon of hope, ingenuity and entrepreneurship. We should make it easier for the best and brightest not only to study here, but also to start businesses and create jobs here. That’s how we’ll win the future.

Immigration is a complex issue that raises strong feelings. And as we push for long-overdue action, we’re going to hear the same sort of ugly rhetoric that has delayed reform for years — despite long and widespread recognition that our current system fails us all and hurts our economy.

So you and I need to be the ones talking about this issue in the language of hope, not fear — in terms of how we are made stronger by our differences, and can be made stronger still.

Take a moment now to watch my El Paso speech and join this campaign for change:

Thank you,

Barack

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

5 Comments

  1. concernedat18 on May 11, 2011 at 8:44 am

    We have to start redefining the terms. ?It is not the immigration problem anymore, the President is ignoring the Mexican War. ?Not even is he just ignoring the Mexican War ?but he is sending border agents off to be slaughtered with the policy of non-lethal force must be used first. ?He sent people armed with bean-bag rounds up against people with AK-47’s, and not only were those people heavily armed but they were battle hardened. ?If you look at the story those people were not cartel people, but a group of bandits who robbed cartels. ?Then there is the problem with Hezbollah being seen in Mexico?http://www.theblaze.com/stories/former-intelligence-agent-terror-group-hezbollah-has-infiltrated-our-southern-border/ we have to start looking at the border situation as a war, not a law enforcement problem.



    • phil on May 11, 2011 at 8:57 am

      And we knowingly gave them those AK-47’s that were used to kill Americans!



  2. Marilyn on May 11, 2011 at 8:49 am

    The Lier in Chief speaks again.? Had Obama been truthful, he would have said:? 5% of the fence is complete and we will build no more.? I sent more agents in a adminstrative capacity as not to encourge further arrest.?? I instructed the border patrol not to make arrest, just take them back.? Iam suing Arazonia and any other state that tries to enforce the Federal immingration laws.? I did good!

    What most people want is the opposit of what happened in 1980’s?.? We want laws enforced and a secure border before immingration reform.??



  3. jjflynn on May 11, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    Jim, thanks for taking my call today her ie a link to former New Mexico Gov Gary Johnson’s immigration plan I mentioned: http://ouramericainitiative.com/issues/immigration-policy

    Johnson stated it at the Republican debate last week but it has not gotten much attention.

    It is a fair plan which?emphasizes boarder security, a market based guest worker plan which requires proof of medical insurances for?all dependents, strong enforcement of current immigration laws including for?those employing illegals. Only after all this is in place does he recommend a path to become a legal guest worker (not citizen) for those currently here illegally. The only thing I personally do not agree with is legalization of marijauna.

    We conservatives/Republicans/Libertarians need to put forth a?plan such as this that can be seen as fair to all to stop the demagoguery Obama is engaging in while trolling for Hispanic votes. Anyone who cannot agree to a fair plan like Johnson?s is probably someone we do not want in the country anyway.



  4. Dimsdale on May 11, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    “More than a century and a half ago, U.S. Steel?s Andrew Carnegie was a 13-year-old brought here from Scotland by his family in search of a better life. And in 1979, a Russian family seeking freedom from Communism brought a young Sergey Brin to America ? where he would become a co-founder of Google.”
    ?

    Were any of these people illegal aliens?? Did any of the positive contribution he threw around come from illegal immigration?
    ?

    “(We are not deporting) families or people looking to scrape together an income.”

    ?
    Okay, great.? Now what happens when these “families or people looking to scrape together an income” come from the poorer populations of China and India, likely numbering in the billions?? Do we discriminate against them because they can’t just hike across a flimsy border, or do we have to employ equal treatment under the law and admit as many of them as desire to come here as well?? Are they any less deserving?? Where does it stop?
    ?
    We need to enforce existing laws and the left needs to stop pretending it doesn’t know the difference between legal and illegal immigration (or invasion, actually).



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