Letter: Focus on the borders, not the immigrants

Sunday, June 11, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

The June 9 letter from Larry Burgess correctly points out that illegal immigration is a crime, and that every illegal immigrant in the U.S. is committing a crime every day that they are here. But Mr. Burgess decries the Senate version of the immigration reform bill because it provides amnesty to those illegals via the "guest worker" provision.

Has Mr. Burgess seriously considered the alternative? If so, then where will he put the 12 million or so "criminals"? Our jails are already overcrowded. I guess he wants us to build more prisons, or maybe just deport all these "criminals."

If these "criminals" need to be rounded up, who will do the job? Our police forces are currently strained and there are clearly not enough federal immigration officers to apprehend 12 million people. How much money in taxes for new prisons, additional INS staff, additional courts and court staff, etc., is Mr. Burgess proposing to spend?

The Senate bill may not be all that each of us wants, but it certainly makes sense to provide some means of handling the 12 million "criminals" without apprehending and incarcerating them.

In fact, the emphasis should not be on illegal immigrants, but instead on border security. It is the illegal drugs, contraband arms and ammunition, terrorist infiltration, slave trade, etc., that should be the focus of our efforts to seal the borders.

Poor people coming to our country to try to better themselves are not the problem. The legislation should contain provisions that virtually seal the borders (and ports ) against any illegal entry, whether it be poor people looking for jobs or "bad guys" intent on doing us harm.

David Adams, Las Vegas