U.S. Ends 'Catch-And-Release' at Border
Aug 23 1:24 PM US/Eastern
By LARA JAKES JORDANAssociated Press Writer
Nearly all non-Mexican illegal immigrants caught sneaking into the United States are being held until they can be returned to their home countries, the Bush administration said Wednesday.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said this marks the end of the so-called "catch-and-release" policy that for years helped illegal immigrants remain in the United States unhindered.
The new policy, dubbed "catch-and-detain" generally does not apply to Mexicans who are almost immediately returned to Mexico after being stopped by Border Patrol agents.
"Although we're not ready to declare victory _ we've got a lot more work to do _ it is encouraging and it is something that ought to inspire us to continue to push forward," Chertoff told reporters in Washington.
He credited the crackdown, aided this summer by National Guard troops, with deterring thousands of immigrants from trying to illegally enter the U.S. over the southwest border. Border Patrol data provided Wednesday shows a drop of about 20,000 illegal immigrants caught crossing from Mexico this summer, compared to last year.
Well DUH! Why wasn't this done sooner? Hello is anyone home upstairs? All I can say and wonder is why it took this long to do the obvious? ~CW~
Aug 23 1:24 PM US/Eastern
By LARA JAKES JORDANAssociated Press Writer
Nearly all non-Mexican illegal immigrants caught sneaking into the United States are being held until they can be returned to their home countries, the Bush administration said Wednesday.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said this marks the end of the so-called "catch-and-release" policy that for years helped illegal immigrants remain in the United States unhindered.
The new policy, dubbed "catch-and-detain" generally does not apply to Mexicans who are almost immediately returned to Mexico after being stopped by Border Patrol agents.
"Although we're not ready to declare victory _ we've got a lot more work to do _ it is encouraging and it is something that ought to inspire us to continue to push forward," Chertoff told reporters in Washington.
He credited the crackdown, aided this summer by National Guard troops, with deterring thousands of immigrants from trying to illegally enter the U.S. over the southwest border. Border Patrol data provided Wednesday shows a drop of about 20,000 illegal immigrants caught crossing from Mexico this summer, compared to last year.
Well DUH! Why wasn't this done sooner? Hello is anyone home upstairs? All I can say and wonder is why it took this long to do the obvious? ~CW~
posted by Cerebralwaste at 11:38 AM
2 Comments:
i don't know, but i don't think i'm ready this post properly. to me, this sounds like it could cost taxpayers money to detain. who are they detaining? if it's not the mexicans, then who?
It is not just Mexicans who try to enter the US illegaly from the border.
Now we are detaining OTM (other than Mexicans)instead of the old policy of catch and release.
A couple of months ago the border patrol captured several people from Palestine trying to enter the US illegaly. Does this make sense to you now?
BTW Please drop me an email when you can. I lost you email address when my computer died.
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