We Want to Stop People from Crossing into America Illegally

Speech

By: President George W. Bush

Date: October 22, 2005

Source: White House Office of the Press Secretary. "President's Weekly Radio Address." October 22, 2005. 〈http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/print/20051022.html〉 (accessed June 15, 2005).

About the Author: George W. Bush is the forty-third president of the United States. He is currently in his second term as president, having originally been sworn into office on January 20, 2001, and again on January 20, 2005, after re-election on November 2, 2004.

INTRODUCTION

This radio address by President George W. Bush announced his signing of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2005 into law in October 2005. The Act contained a package of measures designed to strengthen the enforcement of the immigration laws and to reduce levels of undocumented migration into the United States, particularly across the land border between the United States and Mexico.

The problem of undocumented migration across America's land borders has been regarded as a potential threat to national security, particularly since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Immigration control at airports and seaports has been tightened in order to prevent further terrorist attacks, but the government has been concerned that terrorists and criminals could slip over the Mexican border, along with the many undocumented migrant workers who enter the United States by land.

In order to address the issue of national security, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established in 2003, and this department took over responsibility for immigration services and the enforcement of immigration control. Although the department handles a wide range of immigration functions, including the processing of visa and citizenship applications, the policy focus on national security and increases in funding in this area have led to a major emphasis on enforcement functions and on the development of measures to reduce levels of undocumented migration. DHS has responsibility for the apprehension of undocumented immigrants, management of the detention process and the mechanisms for keeping in contact with non-detained undocumented migrants, and the enforcement of orders to remove from the United States those not legally entitled to remain there.

The Department of Homeland Security has reported success in increasing numbers of apprehensions and in removing undocumented migrants from the country. However, many of the removed migrants subsequently return to the United States, and so far, there is little evidence that the increased enforcement effort has had any deterrent effect, with an overall increase in the numbers of undocumented migrants occurring during the early 2000s. However, migration patterns do appear to have changed, especially in response to the strengthened border control, with the use of different, more hazardous entry routes, the increased use of smugglers, and a tendency for undocumented migrants to stay longer once they are in the United States, rather than take the risk of repeated re-entries.

The continued high level of undocumented migration and increasing numbers of apprehensions has put great pressure on detention facilities in the United States, and has led to the use of other, less reliable, mechanisms for maintaining contact with undocumented migrants pending their removal from the United States. The Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2005 addresses the need to strengthen all areas of immigration control and enforcement, including detention capacity and the speed of removals processes, so that improvements made in one area do not create excessive pressures in other areas.

PRIMARY SOURCE

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week I signed into law a bill that supports our ongoing efforts to defend our homeland.

To defend this country, we have to enforce our borders. When our borders are not secure, terrorists, drug dealers, and criminals find it easier to sneak into America. My administration has a clear strategy for dealing with this problem: We want to stop people from crossing into America illegally, and to quickly return the illegal immigrants we catch back to their home countries.

For the past four years, we've been implementing this strategy. To stop illegal immigrants from coming across our borders, we've added manpower, upgraded our technology, and taken the final steps necessary to complete a fourteen-mile barrier running along the San Diego border with Mexico. To enforce our immigration laws within our borders, we've hired more immigration agents, gone after criminal gangs, and targeted smugglers and coyotes who traffic in human beings. We are getting results: Since 2001, we have removed more than 4.8 million illegal immigrants from the United States, including more than 300,000 with criminal records.

Our border patrol and immigration agents are doing a fine job, but we still have a problem. Too many illegal immigrants are coming in, and we're capturing many more non-Mexican illegal immigrants than we can send home. And one of the biggest reasons we cannot send them back is that we lack space in our detention facilities to hold them until they are removed. When there's no bed available, non-Mexicans who are caught entering our country illegally are given a slip that tells them to come back for a court appearance. Most never show up. And then they disappear back into the shadows of our communities. This is called "catch-and-release," and it is unacceptable.

The bill I signed includes $7.5 billion that will help us address the problem of illegal immigration in two important ways. First, it provides more than $2.3 billion for the Border Patrol so we can keep more illegal immigrants from getting into the country in the first place. These funds will help us hire a thousand new border patrol agents, improve our technology and intelligence, expand and improve Border Patrol stations, and install and improve fencing, lighting, vehicle barriers, and roads along our border areas. I appreciate the help Congress has given us for our common goal of creating more secure borders.

Second, this bill also provides $3.7 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement so we can find and return the illegal immigrants who are entering our country. With these funds, we can expand the holding capacity of our detention facilities by ten percent. This will allow us to hold more non-Mexican illegal immigrants while we process them through a program we call "expedited removal." This will make the process faster and more efficient. Putting more non-Mexican illegal immigrants through expedited removal is crucial to sending back people who have come here illegally. As Secretary Chertoff told the Senate this week, our goal is to return every single illegal entrant, with no exceptions. And this bill puts us on the path to do that.

For Mexicans who cross into America illegally, we have a different plan, but the same goal. Now, most of the 900,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico who are caught each year are immediately escorted back across the border. The problem is that these illegal immigrants are able to connect with another smuggler or coyote and come right back in. So one part of the solution is a program called "interior repatriation" where we fly or bus these illegal immigrants all the way back to their hometowns in the interior of Mexico. By returning illegal Mexican immigrants to their homes, far away from desert crossings, we're saving lives and making it more difficult for them to turn right around and cross back into America.

As we improve and expand our efforts to secure our borders, we must also recognize that enforcement cannot work unless it's part of a comprehensive immigration reform that includes a temporary worker program. If an employer has a job that no American is willing to take, we need to find a way to fill that demand by matching willing employers with willing workers from foreign countries on a temporary and legal basis. I'll work with members of Congress to create a program that will provide for our economy's labor needs without harming American workers, and without granting amnesty, and that will relieve pressure on our borders.

A critical part of any temporary worker program is ensuring that our immigration laws are enforced at work sites. America is a country of laws; we must not allow dishonest employers to flout those laws. So we've doubled the resources for work site enforcement since 2004.

We have much more work ahead of us. But the Homeland Security bill I signed this week provides vital support for our efforts to deal with the problem of illegal immigration, and make all Americans safer and more secure.

Thank you for listening.

SIGNIFICANCE

The president's address attempts to make a clear link between undocumented migration and the risk of terrorist attack on the United States. Major increases in levels of undocumented migration in recent years have highlighted the weaknesses in American border control that could allow potential terrorists to enter the country. Generally, public concerns about the impact of rising numbers of undocumented migrants in the United States have put pressure on government officials to address the problem. The increasing focus on undocumented migration in the context of terrorism and other types of crime is controversial, but may help to gain public support for tough immigration policies.

Undocumented migration remained high on the political agenda following the passing of the Homeland Security Bill. In December 2005, the Immigration Rights Bill was passed by the House of Representatives, which proposed introducing stiff penalties for undocumented migrants and anyone assisting them to enter the United States, and making undocumented migration a felony, and also proposed the fencing of some 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border to try to reduce the number of illegal border crossings. In May 2006, the Senate passed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act. This bill acknowledged the labor market need for migrant workers, and proposed a guest worker program under which migrant applicants would be matched with U.S. employers that had unfilled vacancies, while also proposing measures to strengthen border control and enforcement.

By mid-2006, little progress had been made towards further reform of the immigration laws, as neither of these bills had been agreed on by both the House and the Senate. However, it is likely that the main focus of U.S. immigration policy in the foreseeable future will continue to be on stronger enforcement of the immigration controls.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Periodicals

Cornelius, Wayne A. "Controlling 'Unwanted' Immigration: Lessons from the United States, 1993–2004." Annual Review of Sociology 21 (1995).

Espenshade, Thomas J. "Unauthorized Immigration to the United States." Annual Review of Sociology 21 (1995).

Jonas, S. and Tactaquin, C. "Latino Immigrants Rights in the Shadow of the National Security State: Responses to Domestic Preemptive Strikes." Social Justice 31 (2004).

Web sites

White House Office of the Press Secretary. "President's Weekly Radio Address." October 22, 2005. 〈http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/print/20051022.html〉 (accessed June 15, 2005).