With the guilty plea of Miss Oregon’s father to immigration charges, and the recent arrest of former OLCC inspector Doitchin Krasev, It becomes obvious that the problem is more than just a porous southern border.
The federal government could build a 100 foot high fence and seal off Mexico from the US, but until the fed starts vetting those who fly into our airports every day, this problem will never go away. Overstaying legitimate visas, as well as fraudulent applications is something the fed is going to have to come to terms with. According to a 2006 study about 45% of illegal immigrants had overstayed their visas. Of the 19 terrorists who committed the 9/11 attacks, all entered the country through ports of entry and at least 6 overstayed their visas. Visa over stayers mostly enter with tourist or business visas.
Another common method of illegal immigration is visa fraud: obtaining a visa on false pretenses. The most common form is a so-called “green card marriage”, whereby a foreign national marries for purposes of avoiding immigration law, a crime in the United States, rather than to build a life together. These marriages offer the opportunity of a person who might otherwise not obtain a visa to obtain permanent residency, and potentially citizenship, by virtue of laws allowing spouses of citizens and permanent residents to obtain visas. These include mail-order brides, arranged marriages, arrangements where the American is paid and “Heart-breaker” marriages where the partners trick American spouses into believing a marriage is genuine, when their true intention is to obtain a green card.
So, although an estimated quarter million people are smuggled across our southern border every year, that is only the half of it. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in 2006, apparently the latest data available, India and China are the countries of origin for 5% of aliens, while the Urban Institute estimates that between 65,000 and 75,000 undocumented Canadians currently live in the United States.
Whatever the current administration’s “immigration reform” entails, it better take a hard look at keeping track of the aliens we have allowed into this country, only to allow them to fall off the radar.
