The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at the Border

In admitting recently that the United States will never totally seal its border with Mexico, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano acknowledged a fundamental yet politically perilous fact: there is no way to close a 2000 mile border with a country that is the U.S.’s third largest trading partner. She followed the admission minutes later saying that she won’t be satisfied until all routes used by drug dealers are shut down.

Despite their apparent contradiction, Napolitano's statements do reflect an important distinction that law enforcement officials need to make as best they can: not everyone coming into the country will or should be stopped and it is those behind violent and multimillion-dollar crimes that must be deterred and receive the lion's share of attention.

Unfortunately, these same officials are burdened by the misguided handiwork of activists and legislators who would fix the broken immigration system -- a related but different problem -- by sending them on the fool's task of cracking down on all immigrants.

The latest case in point of course is SB 1070, the Arizona law that would require law enforcement officials to demand proof of legal entry from anyone merely suspected of being in the country illegally. Imagine what music such a law is to the ears of criminals. Instead of tracking down serious lawbreakers, police are incentivized to pursue those who merely look like immigrants. In a state where 30 percent of residents are Hispanic, this “paper” chase will be a colossal waste of time.

Whatever sense of security the likes of SB 1070 brings is surely false. The real task of border security, the fight against human trafficking, money laundering and drug and gun smuggling, remains.

At least, one Arizona State Representative does not shrink from this work. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat who voted against SB 1070, says more realistic legislators have helped shape more pertinent laws in her much derided state.

Less than a year ago the Arizona legislature passed a law, sponsored by Sinema, making it illegal to rent a house for the purpose of illicit activity. That has made it easier to arrest and convict individuals involved in human trafficking, rape and even murder. Similarly successful was a measure that expanded the definition of “trafficking” not to be limited only to the direct transfer of individuals from one locality to another.

Napolitano is very much on this side of the security effort. In a recent presentation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, she was less interested in providing numbers of workers arrested in raids than progress against organized crime.

“Last year seizures of cartel-related contraband rose significantly across the board. We seized 14 percent more illegal bulk cash, 29 percent more illegal weapons, and 15 percent more illegal drugs than the year before,” she said. “We've also deployed more technology than ever to detect smugglers and their cargo. More airplanes, more helicopters, more unmanned aerial vehicles are working the border than ever before.”

U.S. authorities too are screening all rail shipments headed to Mexico for illegal weapons, drugs, and cash. This is a big shift in U.S. policy, demonstrating a willingness to combat transnational criminal organizations that launder money and ship weapons, both of which lead to increased violence south of the border.

While legislation like SB 1070 is clearly misguided as a effort to secure the border, its supporters are right about one thing: the dysfunctional U.S. immigration system makes the job of interdicting criminals more difficult.

Nearly 11 million immigrants live in the country illegally. And as Sinema and other immigrant supporters point out, that means there are millions afraid to come to the police to report crimes and also a substantial population with which criminals can conceal themselves.

“Both good and bad come across the border right now. If you have comprehensive immigration reform that allows good people to come out of the shadows and get in line (to legalize their situation) then all that is left is the bad guys; so it is a lot easier to crackdown on the cartels and illegal activity,” Sinema said in an interview.

Fortunately for supporters, comprehensive immigration reform is still on President Obama's radar. On July 1st, Obama gave his first speech devoted entirely to the issue calling on Congress to overcome partisanship and “take responsibility for solving this problem once and for all.”

Obama said an automatic amnesty for the millions who have come into the country illegally would be “unwise and unfair”. But it would also be foolish, he argued, to continue pretending that limited resources should be "devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists, but also the hundreds of thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work.”