Speech #1090119635

There is virtually today no ability to enforce employer sanc152. Pt. 4 March 30. 2006 tions in the United States of America. Therefore. a more punitive immigration philosophy that is based and dependent upon employer sanctions as working doesnt work and clearly creates a situation whereby there is disorganized chaos in the immigration world. Another reason for this is our borders are a sieve. porous through and through. The Senator from Arizona correctly mentioned there are 14 miles on the California border with Mexico where there is a twolayer fence. It is an immigration border control process known as Operation Gatekeeper. It was very controversial when put into play. but it works. And he is correct. immigrants coming in illegally in that corridor have been deterred. But what has happened is. it has simply pushed them east into unfenced portions of the border. and those portions of the border where the desert and the heat wreak considerable destruction upon anybody crossing. A concern with porous borders has also brought attention to a classification of aliens known as "other than Mexicans." In 2005. Border Patrol agents apprehended 165.175 "other than Mexicans" at the border. 155.000 of them on the southern border. The concern here is that many of these people are increasingly from terroristsupporting countries. and that presents a real potential national security threat to our country. We continue to have a catchandrelease policy with respect to this limited category of people. but we dont have sufficient detention facilities.