Quote:
Originally Posted by IllTestYourGirls
(Post 17363749)
:1orglaugh
Secure the borders "in the works"
:1orglaugh
They are missing a lot of broken promises. Like bring our troops home. The deadline he set has long gone and passed.
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Dear moron, if you click that little 'more' button at the bottom they explain in detail why they rate each promise a certain way. I'll make it easier for you though.
"Immigration reform was a major component of President Obama's campaign platform. He promised to secure the border, crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants, and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
We reviewed the first promise in that list back in March 2009. At the time, we rated it In the Works, since the administration had announced that it was beefing up security on the border with Mexico. We wanted to see if there has been any movement on the promise since then.
The White House made our job a bit easier with a June 21, 2010 entry in its blog, which summarizes some of the major initiatives and accomplishments of the President's border security policy. It notes that the number of personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces has doubled over the past year and that the number of ICE intelligence analysts along the Southwest border has tripled. Thirteen additional cross-trained canine teams were also deployed to the region, according to the report.
President Obama also announced in May 2010 that he would deploy 1,200 national guard troops to help secure the border. Of those troops, 524 will be stationed in Arizona, which has made national headlines in recent months for its new immigration law, which Gov. Brewer signed back in April.
We contacted numerous border security experts and immigration groups to see what they thought of President Obama's border security programs.
"The efforts are a significant continuation of a more than 15 year effort to beef up the southwest border of the United States," said David Shirk, Director of the Trans-Border Institute at University of San Diego. Most of the other experts that we spoke with agreed. But Louis DeSipio from the University of California-Irvine called the policies "incremental," and argued that "the Obama efforts aren't dramatically different than the late Bush efforts." The one possible exception, DeSipio said, is the increased focus on the monitoring of southbound cargo. DeSipio said that increased focus was a partly a result of "growing complaints from Mexico about firearms going south".
We also wondered whether the new measures were effective at curbing illegal border crossings.
"Although opinions may differ, I do not see any of the immigration enforcement changes pursued by the Obama administration as having a long term impact on the undocumented immigrant population," Kevin Johnson, Dean of the University of California-Davis Law School and an immigration policy expert, wrote in an email. "Where the administration's enforcement efforts might prove to be -- but have not yet proven to be -- 'significant' is if they help convince members of Congress that the border is secure and it is time to reform the laws. Both Presidents Bush and Obama believed that they must appear willing to enforce the immigration laws to secure immigration reform. President Bush failed and President Obama has so far."
Just to be thorough, we also checked to see what's being done to beef up security on the U.S.-Canada border. We spoke with Christopher Sands, a U.S.-Canada relations expert at the Hudson Institute, a public policy think tank.
"Overall, I think that the Obama administration is doing well securing the US-Canadian border. They have continued the Bush administration's agenda of upgrading old and inadequate infrastructure, maintained the trusted traveler and shipper programs to keep trade flowing, taken advantage of technology -- particularly for remote areas-- and fostered close ties with Canadian customs, law enforcement and intelligence agencies," said Sands.
Still, the programs have their share of critics. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that it would take 3,000 additional troops to secure Arizona alone. He proposed sending 6,000 National Guard troops to the border. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is also pushing for more troops, along with seeking reimbursement for the state's cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants.
We initially considered rating this one Promise Kept, since the promise was to provide "additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at our ports of entry". Our research shows that Obama's accomplished that. Still, you'd expect additional security to make a meaningful dent in illegal border crossings and violence. The experts we spoke with told us that they've yet to see that happen. So for now, we're keeping this one In the Works."
