Senator Bill Frist Introduces SABA Immigration Law

Senator Bill Frist outlined the contents of his immigration proposal:

• Over the next six years, my bill will add nearly 15,000
  additional border protection agents to augment the 20,000 Customs and
  Border Protection agents already on the job (2,400 new agents annually)
• Specifically authorizes 1,250 border agents and 1,250 port-of entry inspection agents
• Requires Defense Department cooperation on the border, e.g. unmanned drones
• Begins
  process of building a 1,951 mile virtual barrier across every inch of
  our border with Mexico that will combine walls and fences in high
  traffic areas and sensors to let our Customs and Border Patrol Agents
  see and hear those who try and cross through low traffic areas
• Requires fingerprint database connectivity between FBI and Border Patrol

Interior Enforcement specifics:

• Increases alien smuggling penalties with a mandatory minimum of 5 years
• Adds criminal penalties for various immigration-related document fraud
• Mandate the use of expedited removal for aliens apprehended within 100 miles of the border and 14 days of entry

Employer Enforcement specifics:

• Establishes nationwide, mandatory verification program for hiring workers
• Limits the number of acceptable hiring documents with REAL ID standards
• Authorizes 2,000 new worksite enforcement agents and 1,000 anti-fraud agents

This proposal is primarily an enforcement only approach to immigration. It does seem to contain ‘authorization’ for new work-place enforcement agents; we’ll see how much of that is smoke and mirrors. My guess is most of it. The rest seems to be pretty much just a straight prohibition – criminalization approach to immigration control. I’m surprised the bill doesn’t contain funding for concentration camps for Mexican immigrants – we’re already building them for Chinese immigrants whom China won’t take back.

Once again, upon reading the comments on Frist’s site, who do I find finding posting him opinion? That’s right, CD8’s own Dwight Leister; let’s see what he had to say about Frist’s punative legislation:

"As a Candidate for Congress where most of the illegalls cross into from Mexico, in Arizona’s 8th District your focus on enforcing The Rule Of Law is where we as a nation have failed,getting us into this mess in the first place!
There is no enforcement of Immigration Laws now on the books by Law enforcement agencies,since Democratic Party platforms have discouraged the Sheriffs,Police,Border Patrol and The Courts to NOT enforce the laws on the books regarding illegal immigrants. Arizona State legislators have tried to pass laws to hold accountable employers and police for not enforcing the laws now on the books,and have been defeated by the news media attempts to continue the status quo.
Civil Rights groups are advocating for Mexican Nationals who break our laws and come here illegally,rather than educating the same Mexican National to use the Councilates and INS to come here legally!
It does need a Federal Solution since the States have failed miserably by their own inaction and will.

Dwight D. Leister:Chair
www.committee-to-elect.org
T.Mae Leister:First Vice Treasurer
www.dwightleister4congress2006.com

Written by : Leister, Dwight"

Correct me if I’m wrong on this, but that sounds very much like Leister is blaming the Democratic Party, and Governor Napolitano, for our immigration problems. You know – the party that doesn’t control the Federal government, and doesn’t control the Arizona legislature – the party he wants to be the nominee of? It will also come as a considerable surprise to the Homeland Security Department that the laws we now have aren’t being enforced by their agents. It might also come as a surprise to those thousands of illegal immigrants risking death, and paying thousands to coyotes to reach America, that they would have been given Visas to come and work in America legally if only they had applied through proper channels, as Mr. Leister implies.