Going After Illegal Aliens
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a former U.S. attorney from New Jersey with a take-no-prisoners reputation, came to his current post in February 2005. After a tough season overseeing the troubled federal response to Hurricane Katrina, he's now taking on immigration reform (cover story, Page 46). Chertoff talked with U.S. News about his plans. Excerpts follow.
You say you want to get control of the border. What does that mean exactly?
I think control is defined as a very high likelihood that we will intercept, apprehend, and remove people illegally crossing between [legitimate] ports of entry. That will deter people who want to cross because they will really recognize that their prospect for success is very remote. It doesn't mean 100 percent, but it means getting pretty close.
How long will this take?
I think it's a little hard to predict with certainty. The first step is moving from "catch and release" [the practice of releasing non-Mexican illegal aliens after they're caught because of lack of detention space] to "catch and return" [holding them in prison until they can be deported]. The next stage is to elevate the presence on the border, intelligently using the proper mix of staff, infrastructure, and technology. We are looking at this as a process that will take place over the next three to five years.
Will the Border Patrol's relationship with the Army change?
We do exercises together, and we sometimes get an opportunity to use their UAV s [unmanned aerial vehicles, high-altitude drone airplanes] and surveillance capabilities at the border. We'll continue that. There is also a lot of technology in the military that is adaptable to the border effort. UAV s would be one; there could also be more high-tech sensors. We would certainly look at the possibility of satellite imagery as a way of detecting what's going on at the border. You know, even something as simple as the Hummer has a [role].
Do you think you can control the border without a temporary guest-worker bill like the one President Bush has proposed?
We are starting even now doing things to control the border, but it is going to be very, very hard in the long run without a temporary worker program. There'll be jobs, people will not have a way to get those jobs in a legal fashion, and they will want to do it illegally. It's like water. Water finds a way to seep through if there's enough water pressure on the other side of the barrier.
What role should state and local law enforcement play?
We're going to give state and locals the opportunity to help us with things like transporting [illegal aliens] to detention centers so it frees up Border Patrol to stay on the border. We are also talking about training corrections officers to work on identifying criminal illegal aliens while they're still in state prison so we can get them out as soon as they stop serving their sentences.
advertisement
