Today on his radio program, Dennis Prager asked the question "how do we deport 12 million people?" The question is a common one, and is asked as if it were an unanswerable question, when in fact the answer is simple. We're already deporting them. The problem is the continued inflow.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, which now handles border enforcement, over a million people a year are going back home now:
In 2004, in summary:
- DHS apprehended an estimated 1,241,089 foreign nationals. Ninety-two percent were natives of Mexico.
- There were 58,727 investigations initiated and 46,656 closed for immigration related activities including crime, compliance enforcement, work site enforcement, identity and benefit fraud, alien smuggling, and counter terrorism.
- ICE detained approximately 235,247 foreign nationals for a minimum of 24 hours.
- There were 202,842 foreign nationals formally removed from the United States. The leading countries of origin of formal removals were Mexico (73 percent), Guatemala (4.1 percent) and Honduras (4.0 percent). More than 1,035,000 other foreign nationals accepted an offer of voluntary departure.
- Expedited removals accounted for 41,752 or 21 per-cent of all formal removals.
- DHS removed 88,897 criminal aliens from the United States. The majority of criminal aliens (68,771 or 77 percent) were from Mexico.
At that rate, 12 million people would be removed in a decade, with no additional effort or new legislation. If at the same time the inflow were mostly curtailed, then the issue is resolved.
Note that we are not advocating here that every illegal alien be deported. We're only answering the "how can we?" question. Whether all 12 million should be deported is a separate question.
More:
Michelle Malkin
The Washington Post
Memeorandum
Interesting. If you allow those who break your immigration law to remain in the US, what do you say to the thousands
who apply by legitimate means for entrance into US? TEHy cross the border illegally because they need to support
their families? Tell that to the person in a third world country in the same situation who applies ilegally and
has to wait for the quota. There needs to be a consequence for illegality. I was a NAFTA worker, and I knew that
when the job ended I needed to leave teh US within 10 days or risk having INS on my doorstep, deportation and not
being able to return even to visit.
According to them, I should just have stayed.
You should be deporting them and prosecuting those who employ them to the full extent of the law.
Your country you have a RIGHT to say who enters, who stays.
Comment by Bill — April 11, 2006 @ 2:59 pm April 11, 2006
I entered the USA 4 years ago after waiting 9 years for my petition: unmarried child of a Legal Permanent Resident over the age of 21. I returned to my country of origin after getting my greencard and married my girlfriend of 12 years.
I subsequently filed a petition for her and now we have a 1 year old sone. Both of them still reside back in my country of origin as at present there is a 5 year backlog from the time I filed a petition on her behalf (October 2003) until she will get a immigrant visa to enter the USA LEGALLY.
What bothers me is that both she and I followed the rules set forth by the USCIS. While it is painful that we must live apart while waiting for her immigrant visa, we do so as IT IS THE LAW.
It is painful to see that others chose to enter the US ILLEGALLY and actually have the gall to rally and demand that they be given priority over LEGAL IMMIGRANTS with situations similar to mine. Not to mention their waving Mexican flags of flags from wherever they came from.
They should have the decency to go back to their country of origin and apply thru the same process that each and every LEGAL immigrant undergoes.
While there may be some sob story about this family or that family among those protesting, one should not forget that THEY ARE ILLEGALS and as such should not be given priority over those who follow the rules.
They are most welcome to hold their pickets in their country of origin. In my opinion, in cases wherein the parents are Illegals, their children even if US born should not be given US citizenship and instead be given the citizenship of their parents. My reason: their parents were undocumented so they too should not be documented.
Comment by Alfredo — April 12, 2006 @ 8:06 am April 12, 2006
While I don't advocate forced deportation of ALL illegals, I keep thinking what if...say our Mexican illegals
WANTED to go back. Are McCain, Kennedy, Leahy and the others saying THATS impossible?
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics:
http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/2005/html/table_01_45.html
U.S.-Mexican Border Land-PASSENGER Gateways: ENTERING the US
All U.S.-Mexican Land Gateway (I think 43 is the number)
All personal vehicle Passengers 190,936,607
All pedestrians 48,084,235
All bus passengers 3,388,517
All train passengers 12,664
for a 2004 total of 242,422,023
making a DAILY average of 664,170 people entering from Mexico to the US "legally".
(this is in line with a July 2002 item from migrationinformation.org:
There are 43 points of entry (POEs) on the 1,989-mile border between the US and Mexico.
Every day, 800,000 people arrive in the United States from Mexico.)
hmmm: Two months or so of half the "lanes" going "contraflow" (reverse lanes) would take
care of 20 million.
Comment by Sue — April 14, 2006 @ 2:35 am April 14, 2006