by Alex Gonzalez
This morning, Speaker Paul Ryan said that there is room for “border security” as part of “workable” compromise to pass a “Dream Act” or “DACA” bill in the House if the bill has what Trump “will sign.”
In his statement yesterday about ending DACA, Paul Ryan also stated that:
At the heart of this issue are young people who came to this country through no fault of their own, and for many of them it’s the only country they know. Their status is one of many immigration issues, such as border security and interior enforcement, which Congress has failed to adequately address over the years.
Early in the Summer, the House voted to approve a spending bill with $1.6 billion to put toward a border wall along the US-Mexico border, part of a high-profile campaign pledge from President Donald Trump. However, the future of the $1.6 billion down payment for the wall was uncertain in the Senate.
But what doe Paul Ryan really means when he keeps arguing that “border security” is an essential part of Dream Act, albeit the border is already “secure” and illegal immigration has plummet ?
How secure is the US-Mexico border?
Apprehensions at the Southwest border are at an all-time low, and there are over 650 miles of border fencing already in place. The Trump administration plans on hiring over 5,000 more Border Patrol officers in the near future, but the agency has had issues retaining and recruiting agents over recent years.
Not only the border is more “secure” but “illegal’ apprehensions are down. Moreover, according to Department Homeland Security, there is a 47 percent decrease of “illegal” entries as compared to July of 2016. see chart below
Therefore, there is already some mechanism that is stopping or preventing the increase of Illegal immigration without growing spending for border security; and when Paul Ryan says we need “border security and interior enforcement” he means giving Trump some of the funding he wants to hire more ICE agents to detain people, hire more Border Patrol agents (CBP) to give impression he is securing the border, and give Trump some funding for the “wall,” which was one the main campaign promises Trump made.
It will be interesting to see how Democrats will react to this strategy Paul Ryan will play since they want clean vote on the Dream Act or attach it to a must-pass bill.
Alex Gonzalez is a political Analyst and Political Director for Latinos Ready To Vote. Comments to [email protected] or @AlexGonzTXCA
