ObamaOdrama

Spencer Hsu reports that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has postponed a series of planned immigration raids and other enforcement actions in recent weeks.

A senior department official said the delays signal a pending change in whom agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement choose to prosecute — increasing the focus on businesses and executives instead of ordinary workers.

“ICE is now scrutinizing these cases more thoroughly to ensure that [targets] are being taken down when they should be taken down, and that the employer is being targeted and the surveillance and the investigation is being done how it should be done,” said the official, discussing Napolitano’s views about sensitive law enforcement matters on the condition of anonymity.

“There will be a change in policy, but in the interim, you’ve got to scrutinize the cases coming up,” the senior DHS official said, noting Napolitano’s expectations as a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general.

Another DHS official said Napolitano plans to release protocols this week to ensure more consistent work-site investigations and less “haphazard” decision-making.

I don’t think anyone has issue with prosecuting businesses for hiring “illegal” immigrants but the illegal immigrants are still illegal!  This new focus is about as logical as just going after the gun manufacturer and ignoring the shooter in a homicide case.  Hmm that logic sounds familiar… 

In case you were curious why the new focus on businesses rather than illegal immigrants… Latino outrage.

Napolitano’s moves foreshadow the difficult political decisions the Obama administration faces as it decides whether to continue mass arrests of illegal immigrant workers in sweeps of meatpackers, construction firms, defense contractors and other employers.

Critics say workplace and neighborhood sweeps are harsh and indiscriminate, and they accuse the government of racial profiling, violating due process rights and committing other humanitarian abuses.

The raids have enraged Latino community and religious leaders, immigrant advocates and civil liberties groups important to the Democratic base, who have stepped up pressure on Obama to stop them.

Let’s be honest, this new focus on prosecuting businesses and owners is the administration’s way of pretending to do something about illegal immigration while doing absolutely nothing.  Worse yet the government seems to be encouraging illegal immigration by taking a clear stance opposing law enforcement in this matter.   House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) has recently called the enforcement of current U.S. immigration laws “un-American” and arranged a formal meeting between Obama and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to convey this same message.  Even now Sheriff Joe Arpaio is being investigated by our own Department of Jokes for enforcing U.S. immigration laws. 

Apparently Obama’s pledge to the National Council of La Raza includes more than just amnesty.

Tags: Department of Homeland Security, Illegal Immigration, Janet Napolitano, Sheriff Joe Arpaio

This entry was posted on Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 10:10 am and is filed under Illegal Immigration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.