Dan Stein on Immigration Enforcement Methods

Dan Stein on Immigration Enforcement Methods


Dan Stein Testifies Before House Subcommittee on Immigration Enforcement Methods


The modest increase in interior immigration enforcement over the past 18 months has led to the expected protests from the illegal alien advocacy network. Alleging isolated instances in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been heavy-handed in its enforcement efforts, these groups are seeking to limit interior enforcement. The lack of any meaningful form of interior immigration enforcement contributed mightily to the growth of America’s illegal population, as people knew that once they entered the country, little or no effort would be made to find them and remove them.

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law, on February 13, FAIR’s president, Dan Stein, urged Congress to take corrective action when and if ICE does not follow proper procedure. However, he stressed the importance of maintaining a vigorous interior enforcement effort. FAIR has long argued that border security the first line of defense against illegal immigration cannot be the only line of defense. Stein rejected the idea that the remedy for the alleged isolated excesses by ICE should be curtailment of serious interior enforcement efforts.

Speaking on behalf of FAIR, Stein encouraged the subcommittee to continue to add detention facilities for illegal aliens apprehended by ICE and ending the so-called “catch and release” policy. Lacking adequate detention facilities to hold illegal aliens they have already apprehended, ICE has been forced to turn people loose with an order to appear for a hearing at some future date. An audit by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that over a three-year period ending in 2006, 280,987 deportable aliens were released due to lack of detention beds, and that some 600,000 aliens who had been ordered deported had absconded.

Stein also called upon “Congress and the national political leadership of this nation to demonstrate the political will to dramatically increase the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws in a manner consistent with credible deterrence.” Increasing the likelihood of apprehension and detention would deter many potential illegal immigrants from making the expensive and often dangerous journey to the U.S., Stein told the subcommittee.