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 Americas & Beyond | June 2008 
Chertoff Says Border Will Be Secure 2 Years After Bush Leaves
 Penny Starr - CNSNews.com
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| | US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff speaks during a press conference in Doha in May 2008. Travelers from Japan and Western Europe will face tighter restrictions on coming to the United States beginning in January, according to new rules unveiled Tuesday by the US government. (AFP/Mohammed Atta) | | |
Washington - Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on Monday blamed tightened security on the U.S.-Mexico border for increased violence there, and he said the border probably will not be fully secured until 2011, two years after President Bush leaves office.
"(Increased violence) is what typically happens when you start to enforce and make it harder to fight over the shrinking pie, so to speak, and who gets the best opportunity to exploit the additional space that's left," Chertoff said at a news conference at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
"That's a good sign," he said. "The bad news is, it's created a lot of violence and created a lot of havoc, particularly in Mexico."
Chertoff added that quelling the violence will require working with the Mexican government - and millions of dollars from American taxpayers if Congress funds the Merida Initiative. The multi-year proposal would give Mexico $500 million and $50 million to Central America in 2008 to fight the drug cartels - another $450 million and $100 million respectively will be given for fiscal year 2009.
"We have to recognize that both countries (U.S. and Mexico) have a common interest in securing the border," Chertoff said.
When asked by Cybercast News Service if the border will be secure by the end of the Bush administration, Chertoff was upbeat but implied that finishing the job will fall to the next president of the United States.
"I think we will have made a dramatic amount of progress," he said. "I think if we continue on the course we've set now we can get the border secure ... sometime in 2011."
Chertoff used several graphics at the press conference to demonstrate that progress, including a prediction of 670 miles of pedestrian and vehicle fencing in place by the end of 2008; the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which standardizes documentation for increased border security; and the success of the E-Verify program, a voluntary program for employers to check the legal status of their prospective employees. Chertoff said some 70,000 American businesses have signed up for the program.
Chertoff also announced that the federal government would "lead by example" by making E-Verify mandatory for any entity seeking a federal contract.
Chertoff was joined at the conference by Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, who said that immigration reform continues to be a top priority of the Bush administration and that it is vital for the future health of the U.S. economy.
"We simply do not have enough workers at both ends of the spectrum," Gutierrez said, "from low-skilled field laborers to high-skilled technology workers."
He added that immigration is a reality that "is not going to go away" and that a "thoughtful" approach to immigration policy would continue a fine American tradition.
"If you look back over our economic history, we would not have accomplished what we have accomplished were it not for the help and the work of immigrants." |
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