Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano defended the Obama Administration’s immigration enforcement policies in a Kennedy Political Union speaking event at Bender Arena Oct. 5.
She dismissed the immigration criticism from extreme right and left-wingers as mere political rhetoric and urged the public to focus on the facts and evidence.
“It’s time for a reality check when it comes to talking about immigration enforcement,” she said.
U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement Napolitano called for an honest assessment of border enforcement efforts and rejected talk of the border being unmanageable, citing a substantial drop in illegal border crossings and an increase in seized contraband. A record number of deportations — 195,000 in 2010 — also occurred under her watch, she said.
In a post-speech interview with ATV and The Eagle, Napolitano explained that many Americans may be unaware of the improvements to border security because they have not been there personally and only heard secondhand accounts.
“It’s easy to kind of get this mythological impression in your mind about what it must be [like],” she said. “I think what happens is anecdotes get substituted for looking at what’s really going on at the border and those make for better stories.”
She acknowledged that crimes still exist along the border, but noted that the situation has markedly improved.
“The border is safer than it has been in decades,” she said.
Priority Deportations and Removals Napolitano also emphasized the need to establish clear priorities for the types of individuals the United States deports, acknowledging the limited resources the country has to root out the estimated 10 million undocumented immigrants living here.
“A lot of them came legally, and then overstayed their visas,” she said in her post-speech interview. “I think it’s fair to say that a great percentage of those illegally in the country have come here to work and also to pursue the American Dream … that doesn’t excuse illegal immigration, nor should it, but I think that is a common reason.”
She also criticized the previous administration for treating all illegal immigrant cases the same way. Instead, Napolitano said the Department of Homeland Security’s top priority will be identifying and removing those illegal immigrants who threaten national security.
Secure Communities Program Napolitano also defended the Secure Communities program, calling it the best tool to target those illegal immigrants who pose a threat to the public.
Secure Communities, which began in March 2008, according to the Immigration Policy Center’s website, allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have automatic access to fingerprint data of individuals who have been jailed from local and state law enforcement offices. This data would then be checked against ICE’s immigration databases to track those illegal immigrants with criminal records.
Napolitano admitted, however, that a lack of clarity from DHS led to misunderstandings regarding who would be compelled to participate in the program.
“That has created a lot of confusion around the country,” she said.
ICE is now trying to make it clear that all states and local law enforcement offices will be required to participate by 2013.
Napolitano also said Secure Communities has not increased the number of deportations but rather has changed the proportion to include significantly more convicted criminals and repeat immigration law violators.
Despite challenges, she said DHS and the Obama Administration have been productive and efficient in enforcing the nation’s immigration laws with its given resources.
After making the case for her agency’s efforts, she put the final burden of responsibility on Congress to enact cohesive legislation.
“It is this Administration's position that Congress needs to take up immigration reform once and for all,” she said. “But Congress hasn’t acted.”
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