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Skriven 2007-06-22 23:30:54 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0706223) for Fri, 2007 Jun 22
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Immigration Fact Check: Responding to Key Myths
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 22, 2007

Immigration Fact Check: Responding to Key Myths

˙˙White House News


Immigration Fact Check: Responding To Key Myths

1. MYTH: A comprehensive approach to immigration reform is not necessary.

* FACT: Mass deportation is not a workable solution. Deporting the millions
of illegal immigrants who are already in the country would be impractical,
harmful to our economy, and potentially devastating to families with deep
roots in their communities.

* FACT: Keeping our Nation secure requires bringing the estimated 12
million illegal immigrants already here out of the shadows and into a
regulated system. This will allow law enforcement officials to know who is
in the country and allow immigration enforcement officers to focus their
resources on finding and apprehending violent criminals and terrorists who
want to stay hidden from the law.

* FACT: To help meet the needs of our growing economy, there must be a
lawful and orderly channel for foreign workers to fill jobs that Americans
are not doing. Current enforcement, while necessary to uphold the rule of
law, is leaving farmers without workers to pick their crops.

* FACT: A temporary worker program will give immigrants trying to support
their families a legal way to find employment, thus reducing pressure on
the border. This will allow Border Patrol and immigration enforcement
agents to focus on those entering the country illegally with the intent of
doing our Nation harm.

2. MYTH: The Administration is not enforcing current immigration law.

* FACT: In FY 2006, the Border Patrol caught and sent back nearly 1.2
million illegal immigrants. So far in FY 2007, more than 600,000 illegal
immigrants have been removed.

* FACT: As a result of the Administration's increased investment in border
security and other deterrence factors, the number of people apprehended
illegally crossing our Southern border is down by more than 25 percent.

o Since the President took office in 2001, the Administration has more than
doubled funding for border security - from $4.6 billion in 2001 to $10.4
billion in 2007.

o The Administration has expanded the Border Patrol from approximately
9,000 agents in 2001 to more than 13,000 agents today. By the end of 2008,
there will be a total of more than 18,000 agents, doubling the size of the
Border Patrol under the President's leadership.

o In addition to thousands of ground sensors, hundreds of cameras, more
than 350 miles of improved patrol roads, and 78 miles of permanent vehicle
barriers, there are 86 miles of primary fencing now in place at the
Southern border, part of 370 miles planned by the end of 2008.

* FACT: Arrests for criminal violations brought in worksite enforcement
actions have increased from 49 in FY 2000 to a record 716 in FY 2006 - a
nearly 15-fold increase.

* FACT: During the first half of FY 2007, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) obtained criminal fines, restitution, and civil judgments
in worksite enforcement investigations against egregious violators in
excess of $29 million.

* FACT: ICE established the Fugitive Operations Program to eliminate the
Nation's backlog of immigration fugitives. Today, there are 61 fugitive
operations teams nationwide, up from 15 in 2005. ICE expects to expand this
number to 75 by the end of the year.

* FACT: The Administration has effectively ended the practice of "Catch and
Release" at the Southern border. To help sustain this, the Administration
has provided funding for 7,798 new beds to accommodate apprehended illegal
immigrants - a 40 percent increase over 2001.

3. MYTH: The preliminary background checks required for illegal immigrants
to gain probationary legal status are insufficient.

* FACT: In order to obtain probationary status, undocumented workers must
come out of the shadows, acknowledge they have broken the law, and pass a
preliminary background check. There is a provision in the bill that says
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should grant probationary status
unless it has found a "disqualifying factor" by the end of the next
business day, but applicants will undergo significant scrutiny in that
time, as four components of the five-layered background check almost always
generate answers within 24 hours. As a general rule: o The DHS Interagency
Border Inspection System check is effectively immediate. o The DHS
immigration records check is effectively immediate. o The biometrics check
against DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) is
completed within 24 hours. o The biometrics check against the FBI's
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) is completed
within 24 hours.

* FACT: In general, the only component of the background check that
sometimes takes longer than 24 hours is the FBI Name Check. Of these, 68
percent are returned within 48 hours.

* FACT: Any portion of the background check that remains incomplete after
24 hours will continue during the probationary period. Probationary status
must be revoked at any time if a worker is found ineligible for the Z visa,
fails to maintain a clean record, or fails the background check required
for obtaining a Z visa.

* FACT: No Z visas will be awarded until all appropriate background checks
begun during the probationary period are completed to the satisfaction of
the Homeland Security Secretary.

* FACT: Creating a mechanism to bring illegal workers with clean records
out of the shadows will enhance our national security by letting
enforcement officials know who is in the country and why they are here.
This is far preferable to the status quo, under which millions of illegal
workers live outside the recognition of the law.

4. MYTH: The Employee Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) required under
the bill will create a vast government database containing extraordinary
amounts of information.

* FACT: EEVS is first and foremost a verification service that bounces
queries against existing databases to confirm data.

* FACT: The data currently retained by EEVS includes only the worker's
name, date of birth, Social Security number, citizenship status/work
authorization, and place of employment.

* FACT: The bill specifically requires the Homeland Security Department, in
consultation with the Social Security Administration and other Federal and
State agencies, to develop policies and procedures to ensure protection of
this information. It further mandates that DHS's Chief Privacy Officer
conduct regular audits of these policies.

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