EckerNet.Com

It’s been said that the opposite of Progress is Congress, and never has that been more true that on the immigration issue. They could have easily passed legislation that secured our borders, expelled the criminals within our borders and reformed our completely broken immigration system. Instead they sat on their ass and kissed the hands of racist nationalist groups like La Raza whose stated goals include the fragmentation of the United States.

Instead states and cities have had to step in to fill the void and pass laws of their own to deal with the problem. And despite the inaction of Congress, ICE has managed to make the most of their situation. In 2005, they reported a 52% increase in arrests over 2004. In 2006, they reported a 340% increase in arrests over 2005. In 2007, they reported a 13% increase in arrests over 2006. And in 2008, ICE is on track to report a 20% increase over 2007, having already almost matched 2007’s total.

While that is impressive, due to very soft laws and a pitiful array of legal tools, many of those arrested illegals go right back out the door with little more than a piece of paper asking them to show up in court later on to be deported. Few do, hence the phrase “Catch & Release”, which DHS claims they have ended every few months, despite evidence to the contrary.

More importantly, in addition to the number of arrests of illegal workers skyrocketing, the number of employers being arrested for hiring illegals is also increasing. Convincing employers that hiring illegals isn’t worth the risk would greatly advance the cause of dealing with illegal immigration.

We have a long way to go but it has increasingly convinced employers to use the E-Verify system to verify the legality of their workers. At the end of fiscal 2007, there were 24,463 employers registered with the E-Verify system, there are now over 75,000, with 1,000 more being added every week. Those employers have queried the status of over 4 million new hires so far this year.

Now the progress that has been made, despite the ineptitude and inaction of Congress, is being threatened by that very same ineptitude and inaction by Congress. The E-Verify program expires in November, and legislation to reauthorize it has to pass both the House and Senate before the fall (August) recess. While there is pending legislation to do so (HR 5596), it has been tied up with attempts, led by Representative Sam Johnson (R-TX), to gut any funding of if, essentially killing the program. By killing this program, Congress eliminates one of the few tools used in our already meager to deal with illegal immigration.

By not only impeding, but outright working against any semblance of progress on fighting illegal immigration, Congress really has become the opposite of Progress.

[Crossposted at True North]