http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3097
by Emmanuel Opati
The issue of illegal immigration has for a long time been a topic of high political and economic contention in Washington, D.C. Being an election year, many politicians are walking a fine road appealing to both sides of the illegal immigration debate.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said that “Illegal immigration is complicated, but it can be resolved. And it must be resolved in a way that upholds both our laws and our highest ideals.”
Sen. Sessions noted that “new statistics illustrate the effectiveness of just a handful of targeted border activity. Illegal entries at the border are down by approximately 20%. U.S. Border Authorities arrested just under 877,000 illegal crossovers in fiscal year 2007, in the past year the arrests were 1.1 million.”
He cautioned voters to ask candidates vying for Presidential nomination their positions on illegal immigration. “More importantly, candidates must demonstrate a firm personal conviction that illegal immigration will end under their Presidency and a lawful system of immigration that furthers a national interest will be created,” he added.He said construction of a border fence should be among the tasks of the next president. “Secure Fence Act of 2006 requires the construction of 700 miles of fencing on the Southern border (not virtual fencing but actual fencing), to date less than 200 miles have been constructed.” He added that the Bush Administration promised to construct additional 370 miles of fencing by the end of this fiscal year.
Sessions also called on the next President to make illegal border-crossing a felony. He said “according to (internal documents) documents of Department of Homeland Security, it is critical that the second offense of illegal entry carry a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail and that a third offense carry a minimum sentence of 90 days in jail.” “If elected President, will you deter illegal entry by expanding the already successful zero tolerance prosecution policy from three to twenty border sectors and support statutory mandatory minimums for the crimes of illegal entry and re-entry for conviction of a felon?” he asked.
Noting that this would be a challenge given that there are only 20,000 Federal Immigration Officers within the United States, he proposed that “we need to partner with the 700,000 State and local Law Enforcement Officers who are central to effective interior enforcement.”
http://www.campusreportonline.net/main/articles.php?id=2120