Homeland Security Chief Critical of Congress's Failure to Pass Immigration Bill

Michael Chertoff, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, weighed in on Congress's failure to pass an immigration bill. According to a Washington Times article posted on washingtontimes.com, Chertoff was particularly critical of the loss of enforcement tools, including $4.4 billion for border security, that was lost when the bill was defeated.

The Times quoted Chertoff as saying, "We're going to say to the members of Congress who think they have a better way that they should produce legislation and pass legislation, which they have not done for the past two years." The Homeland Secretary was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday" by host Chris Wallace.

Chertoff pointed out that Congress has tried "enforcement-only" and "comprehensive." Neither plan has been effective, and it's time, he said, that Congress determines how "it wants to help us solve this problem [of illegal immigrants]." According to the Times, the plan, which President George W. Bush and a bipartisan group of Senators were pushing, failed by 14 votes in the Senate to reach a final vote. The $4.4 billion in the bill would have come from fines paid by illegal immigrants pursuing the legalization program that was part of the proposed bill. An estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants would have been eligible to proceed to full citizenship under the bill's provisions.

Chertoff vowed that the administration would continue to enforce the existing immigration laws, but said that the job would be difficult without the tools provided for in the bill, including harsher penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. "I wish we had some of the tools that were left on the floor of the Senate when they abandoned the bill last week, but we will do what we have to do with the resources we have at our disposal," he was quoted as telling ABC's "This Week" program.

One weakness of pursuing employers who hire illegal immigrants, Chertoff told "Fox News Sunday," is that "We haven't been able to require every employer to enter a system in which they check the work status of their employees and determine whether they're legal." Not having that power, said Chertoff, limits what the government can do.

Sources:

washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1859560/posts