Grassfire.org staff provide updates and commentary on issues impacting border security and illegal immigration

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its augmented investment of $7 million to boost U.S. Attorney offices in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Sixty-four assistant U.S. Attorneys and 35 support Staff will be hired to expand the prosecution of human traffickers, drug and gun smugglers, violent criminals and money launderers.

This increase shows that border security is a top priority for the DOJ and these new sources will allow for better border security. The investments in the U.S. attorney offices are great but the current influx of illegal aliens will continue as long as the borders are open. The Federal government needs to take their constitutional responsibility and secure our borders by building the fence. Once the fence is built, the amount of illegal aliens will decrease and money can be spend on real immigration reform. More Here

Recently, the South Carolina sheriffs have endorsed a plan to build prisons only for illegal aliens awaiting deportation. Currently, the illegal aliens are taking up valuable space in the already over-crowded prisons of South Carolina. The current plan for these prisons sets forth that each prison will hold a maximum of 400 illegals, be run by state officials, and be paid for by a Department of Homeland Defense program.  However, the proposal is still a work in progress. More Here

Ordinances passed by cities such as in Hazleton, Pennsylvania have shown significant declines in illegal immigration activity. One such decline is that fewer immigrants are sending money back home to Latin America. An Inter-American Development bank study , shows that fewer immigrants from Latin America are regularly sending money to their home countries because of the growing restrictions on illegal immigrants. See Study

 The laws passed in Pennsylvania includes fines and loss of privileges for any landlords or employers who rented to or hired illegal immigrants. These ordinances clearly follow the plan of immigration through attrition—taking away the magnets (i.e. jobs, renting ability) will slowly, yet consistently decrease the amount of illegal aliens in the United States.  The illegal alien ordinances are meeting their goals which are to get illegal immigrants to change their behavior and leave. Basically, it’s time to change the climate so that illegal immigrants get the message that the party is over and they need to go home.

Unemployment Plummets After Crackdown of Illegals.  Wait a second, didn’t the U.S. Chamber of Commerce just issue a report saying that the DHS plan to crack down on employers hiring illegal aliens would be bad for the economy? See article here.

As unemployment rates increase across the United States, Oklahoma is experiencing a dramatic reduction in unemployment.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment in Oklahoma had fallen to 3.1 % in March, down 4% from March last year. Meanwhile, nationwide unemployment us up to 5.1%, up from 4.4% last year.

This decrease is attributed to the passage of Oklahoma House Bill 1804 , the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007.  Some argue that this bill is the toughest state law targeting illegal immigration.  The law imposes strict penalties on employer who knowingly higher illegals, makes it a felony to transport or shelter illegal immigrants, forbids the state to issue drivers licenses or pay social welfare to illegal aliens or their families, and empowers state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Much like other liberal amnesty supporters, the Oklahoma Bankers Association threatened that this bill would force 50,000 illegal aliens to leave the state and cause Oklahoma to lose $1.8 billion annually.

The key indicator in this situation is the fact that the unemployment rate has not increased even with the exodus of so many illegal aliens. The illegals are gone, yet the jobs are being filled by Americans. So much for the argument that illegals do only the jobs that Americans won’t.

According to the Chamber’s report written by Richard Belzer, consultant and former economist with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), DHS’s plan would affect 2% of legal workers (37,000 to 137,000) in finding jobs and cost approximately $8 billion to $37 billion in lost wages. Belzer also thinks that the crackdown will cost employers money because of the required administrative paperwork and the loss of employees will affect a company’s ability to produce goods.

However, I believe that before analyzing Belzer’s study, one must keep in mind the pro-Amnesty stance taken by the United States Chamber of Commerce. The Federation For American Immigration Reform (FAIR) lists the Chamber as one of the top pro-amnesty groups. Randel Johnson, Chamber VP for labor and immigration stated, “We need a system of “earned targeted adjustment” for undocumented workers that fill vital roles in our economy, which would enable them to achieve legal status.” In other words, lets allow all the illegal aliens already in the U.S. fulfill certain requirements and then we’ll give them AMNESTY.

The Chamber is also a member of the pro-amnesty group Americans for Better Borders (ABB) which has been successful in lobbying for amnesty compromises within immigration law. Their goal is to build a coalition and unite regional businesses, organizations, and trade associations to ensure the efficient flow of goods and people across our borders while addressing national security concerns. Basically, they want to combine amnesty with border security.

U.S. Chamber leaders were among those singing praises on the McCain-Kennedy-Bush Comprehensive (AMNESTY) Immigration Reform Plan. In the Chamber’s Commerce Plan for Immigration Reform they propose four pillars of reform. One of these pillars calls for illegal alien workers as well as carefully screened immigrants to work and reside in the U.S. The third pillar recommends giving legal status to all of the illegal aliens currently residing in America. The Chamber claims “ other alternative proposals, such as mass deportations…are indefensible and impractical. Even if we succeeded…., our economy would slow dramatically.”

The Chamber went even so far as to sponsor meetings with Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Ernesto, in order to lobby for the amnesty legislation and to oppose the border fence legislation. Representative James Sensenbrenner, the House point man on immigration exclaimed, “the U.S. Chamber of Commerce should be ashamed of themselves” for their pro-amnesty actions. “What they are doing is saying that it’s ok to use fake social security numbers. I don’t think that anybody ought to be condoning the use of false documentation. If they continue promoting speeches by the Mexican government officials then maybe they ought to register as an agent of a foreign government under the law.”