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EDITORIAL
Protecting illegals
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Updated: Apr. 10, 2012 | 10:27 a.m.
The start of each new decade launches a federal head count. Census workers want every person accounted for, even if they're in the United States illegally.
So when the state launches an $866,000 advertising blitz to encourage residents to complete their questionnaires, "a big part of the campaign will be aimed at Spanish-language speakers," said David Byerman, the U.S. Commerce Department employee in charge of Nevada's census operation.
Mr. Byerman wants to assure illegals that their participation will remain confidential, and that police and immigration authorities won't have access to Census data.
It goes without saying that even if Homeland Security could look at questionnaires, last week's failure to apprehend a Nigerian terrorist shows they wouldn't make the slightest effort to identify illegals or communicate with another bureaucracy, assuming they knew how to pick up a phone.
This census boondoggle is another example of political correctness run amok in government. Bean counters are so preoccupied with the nuances of federal budgeting and reapportioning congressional representation that they're open about refusing to identify anyone violating immigration laws.
If this country is ever going to solve its illegal immigration problem -- a pressing policy issue with huge fiscal and social consequences for all levels of government -- the least the census can do is nail down the number of people here illegally, and tabulate the costs they impose on taxpayers.
That our government's infatuation with statistics doesn't extend to upholding the integrity of citizenship speaks volumes about its collective lack of common sense.
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Every 20 years or so Congress passed illegal alien amnesty bills and states "That will take care of the illegal alien problem." The problem is not taken care of because Congress refuses to do anything about the next mob of cockroaches skittering across our southern border. There are already laws on the books to handle some of the illegal alien problems. U.S. Title 8, Unlawful employment of aliens, handles the penalties to businesses that hire illegal aliens and U.S. Title 18, fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents, handles the penalties for illegals using false or stolen documentation. Enforce these two existing laws and that will be a start to getting rid of the illegal aliens in this country.
@BS
Sorry but info collected by the census is only going to be used so states receive more federal funds, this is hardly an effort to collect accurate information about costs and numbers of illegal aliens in the country.
We can solve much of the problem by implementing E-Verify. The reason we don’t have accurate stats dealing with this issue is, government didn’t care and even with the census, the info will not be used correctly to predict costs or figured with adverse costs left out.
Msgt Drubin (USAF, ret)
As a fellow Msgt USAF retiree, I naturally want to agree with you. However you can't do anything about illegals if elected to the county commission. The same is true for any other position in a state or local office. You know that ICE is a federal agency controlled by DC demorats. They want to create a huge voting block just like they have done with blacks.
There are plenty of good things you CAN do on the county commission. Back off the claims that make you sound like a standard grade wanneebe politician. You will then have me and my vote.
Good luck and happy new year, buddy!
sounds like the only accurate method would be to provide the infiltrators with a one way bus pass to whichever border they had earlier infiltrated. that way those infiltrators could be accurately counted in their country of legal citizenship.
and of course, that would enable those infiltrators to get in the appropriate line to apply for legal residence in the country of their choice. surely even the most radical leftists wouldn't want to see the u.s. taxpayers encumbered with intentional lawbreaker-criminals, or would they ?
like after a misdeal is discovered, it's time for a reshuffle.