State immigration crackdown not answer

Crackdowns by state and local governments on illegal aliens won't solve the immigration problem in the United States, according to a spokeswoman for President Bush.

"We can understand that they want to increase enforcement, and that's what the president called for in his comprehensive bill," Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

She was responding to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House. He asked: "Oklahoma's House Bill 1804, just passed and signed by the Democrat governor, has been described as 'the toughest state-level immigration reform bill in the nation' by Republican representative Randy Terrill. And my question: What does the White House think about this bill?"

"What we would like to see is a comprehensive national immigration reform bill," she answered. "We think it is difficult for all 50 states and localities and jurisdictions and counties to have a cohesive immigration policy when everyone is doing their own laws."

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The law, signed by Gov. Brad Henry, is intended to discourage illegal immigration. He deprives illegals of state identification and demands that all state and local agencies verify citizenship status before authorizing public funds be spent on benefits for them.

The League of United Latin American Citizens offered its criticism, along with other immigration groups, saying setting such regulations is within the authority of the federal government, not the state.

The legislation was passed by overwhelming majorities in the state Legislature, but Henry said "until the U.S. Congress enacts a comprehensive, national immigration policy, citizens will see little progress."

House Speaker Lance Cargill, a Republican, said this law is important because it assures people that Oklahoma is upholding the law. "Our citizens deserve nothing less," he said.

Officials estimate about 100,000 illegal immigrants live in Oklahoma, and could cost state taxpayers up to $200 million in benefits and other resources each year.

The law requires verification of legal status in order to obtain public benefits, or in many cases jobs. It also limits state driver's licenses and ID cards to citizens and legal immigrations.

In a second question, also related to immigration policy, Kinsolving asked:

"Agence France Presse reports thousands of illegal aliens coming into the U.S. every year could include terrorist spies and those with communicable diseases, largely due to the under-staffing and low morale among Border Patrol agents, according to our GAO report. And my question: How does the White House believe the morale can be improved with such agents as Ramos and Compean still in prison – "

"Wow, what is the question?" said Perino.

" – for doing what they believed was defending the nation's borders?" Kinsolving finished.

"The president has made a pledge and he is making good on it to double the number of Border Patrol agents that are working for the government. We are well on our way to making that happen. I think we have about 18,500 now; we're on our way to getting a full 20,000, and that should help because I know that they're overworked and they work very hard," Perino said.

Former Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos are serving prison terms of 11 and 12 years for shooting at and wounding a drug smuggler who had brought one third of a ton of marijuana into the United States, but abandoned it and fled back into Mexico when confronted by the officers.

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