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Skriven 2007-06-22 23:30:54 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0706225) 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

ÿÿWhite House News

ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Immigration


1. MYTH: A comprehensive approach to immigration reform is not necessary.
  þ FACT: Mass deportation is not a workable solution.ÿDeporting 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.
  þ FACT: Keeping our Nation secure requires bringing the estimated 12
    million illegal immigrants already here out of the shadows and into a
    regulated system.ÿThis 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.ÿ
  þ 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.ÿ Current enforcement, while necessary to
    uphold the rule of law, is leaving farmers without workers to pick
    their crops.
  þ 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.ÿ 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.ÿ
  þ FACT: In FY 2006, the Border Patrol caught and sent back nearly 1.2
    million illegal immigrants.ÿ So far in FY 2007, more than 600,000
    illegal immigrants have been removed.
  þ 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.ÿ
      þ 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.
      þ The Administration has expanded the Border Patrol from
        approximately 9,000 agents in 2001 to more than 13,000 agents
        today.ÿ 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.
      þ 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.
  þ ÿFACT: 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.
  þ ÿFACT: 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.
  þ ÿFACT: ICE established the Fugitive Operations Program to eliminate the
    Nation's backlog of immigration fugitives.ÿToday, 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.ÿ
  þ ÿFACT: The Administration has effectively ended the practice of "Catch
    and Release" at the Southern border.ÿ 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.
  þ 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.ÿ As a
    general rule:
      þ The DHS Interagency Border Inspection System check is effectively
        immediate.
      þ The DHS immigration records check is effectively immediate.
      þ The biometrics check against DHS's Automated Biometric
        Identification System (IDENT) is completed within 24 hours.
      þ The biometrics check against the FBI's Integrated Automated
        Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) is completed within 24
        hours.ÿ
  þ ÿFACT: In general, the only component of the background check that
    sometimes takes longer than 24 hours is the FBI Name Check. ÿOf these,
    68 percent are returned within 48 hours.
  þ ÿFACT: Any portion of the background check that remains incomplete
    after 24 hours will continue during the probationary
    period.ÿProbationary 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.
  þ ÿFACT: 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.
  þ ÿFACT: 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.
    ÿThis 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.
  þ ÿFACT: EEVS is first and foremost a verification service that bounces
    queries against existing databases to confirm data.
  þ ÿFACT: 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.
  þ ÿFACT: 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.ÿ It further mandates that DHS's
    Chief Privacy Officer conduct regular audits of these olicies.

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