Stop catch and release

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Citizens for Limited Taxation

Stop 'catch and release' Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Rick Holmes Metrowest Daily News

One thing all sides of the immigration debate should agree on: The border is broken.
That conclusion is clear in "Border Insecurity," a recent series of reports from the Mexican border by the Associated Press. An especially disturbing practice is one insiders call "catch and release."
Border Patrol agents capture thousands of people crossing the Rio Grande every year. Native Mexicans are quickly sent back to Mexico, but a growing number of border-crossers from other countries -- officials call them "other than Mexicans" or OTMs -- present a problem. They must be held pending a deportation hearing before they can be sent back to the countries from which they came.
But the Border Patrol doesn't have nearly enough beds in which to detain OTMs, so unless there is a warrant out for their arrest or some other good reason to hold them, they are released on their own recognizance. Border Patrol officers make them sign an agreement to return for their trial date, give them a "permiso" -- permission -- paper and let them go.
Few of them return for their hearings. The AP reports that, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more than 118,000 undocumented migrants who were caught after sneaking over the nation's borders have walked right out of custody with a "permiso" in hand.
And the rate of release is increasing. In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2001, 5,251 non-Mexicans were freed on their own recognizance. In fiscal year 2002, that rose to 5,725. Fiscal 2003: 7,972. Fiscal 2004: 34,161. Releases have soared again this year, with more than 70,000 OTMs given the get-out-of-jail free permiso."
That Brazilians make up a large number of those released should come as no surprise. Since Mexico stopped requiring visas for travel to Mexico, the number of Brazilians crossing into the U.S. from Mexico has increased by 700 percent.
Of more pressing concern are the hundreds of border-crossers from "special concern" countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, which are suspected of exporting terrorists. These are more likely to be detained for longer, but more than 450 of them have been released this year. Illegal immigration is no longer just about the economy, it's about national security. There's nothing in the "catch and release" system that makes us feel secure.
This page has long argued that the best way to reduce illegal immigration is to enforce it at the workplace. The flow will stop only when would-be immigrants are convinced they won't be able to work in the U.S. without proper documentation.
But a porous border sends the opposite message to would-be immigrants willing to break the rules. Once you cross over from Mexico, just look for the Border Patrol, they are being told. They'll give you a "permiso" and you'll be on your way.
We can never perfectly seal our borders, a fact demonstrated by 40 years of frustration in the "war on drugs." But we must do better, beginning with a commitment to building detention centers big enough to hold captured border-crossers until they can be deported.

Stop 'catch and release'	Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Rick Holmes	Metrowest Daily News
One thing all sides of the immigration debate should agree on: The border is broken. That conclusion is clear in "Border Insecurity," a recent series of reports from the Mexican border by the Associated Press. An especially disturbing practice is one insiders call "catch and release." Border Patrol agents capture thousands of people crossing the Rio Grande every year. Native Mexicans are quickly sent back to Mexico, but a growing number of border-crossers from other countries -- officials call them "other than Mexicans" or OTMs -- present a problem. They must be held pending a deportation hearing before they can be sent back to the countries from which they came. But the Border Patrol doesn't have nearly enough beds in which to detain OTMs, so unless there is a warrant out for their arrest or some other good reason to hold them, they are released on their own recognizance. Border Patrol officers make them sign an agreement to return for their trial date, give them a "permiso" -- permission -- paper and let them go. Few of them return for their hearings. The AP reports that, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more than 118,000 undocumented migrants who were caught after sneaking over the nation's borders have walked right out of custody with a "permiso" in hand. And the rate of release is increasing. In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2001, 5,251 non-Mexicans were freed on their own recognizance. In fiscal year 2002, that rose to 5,725. Fiscal 2003: 7,972. Fiscal 2004: 34,161. Releases have soared again this year, with more than 70,000 OTMs given the get-out-of-jail free permiso." That Brazilians make up a large number of those released should come as no surprise. Since Mexico stopped requiring visas for travel to Mexico, the number of Brazilians crossing into the U.S. from Mexico has increased by 700 percent. Of more pressing concern are the hundreds of border-crossers from "special concern" countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, which are suspected of exporting terrorists. These are more likely to be detained for longer, but more than 450 of them have been released this year. Illegal immigration is no longer just about the economy, it's about national security. There's nothing in the "catch and release" system that makes us feel secure. This page has long argued that the best way to reduce illegal immigration is to enforce it at the workplace. The flow will stop only when would-be immigrants are convinced they won't be able to work in the U.S. without proper documentation. But a porous border sends the opposite message to would-be immigrants willing to break the rules. Once you cross over from Mexico, just look for the Border Patrol, they are being told. They'll give you a "permiso" and you'll be on your way. We can never perfectly seal our borders, a fact demonstrated by 40 years of frustration in the "war on drugs." But we must do better, beginning with a commitment to building detention centers big enough to hold captured border-crossers until they can be deported.

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