The homeland security philosophy of the Secretary of Homeland Security

There’s more in Janet Napolitano’s interview in Der Spiegel, as pointed out by reader James P.:

SPIEGEL: When you were Arizona’s governor, illegal immigration was an important issue for you. Your comment on the idea of a border fence was, “Show me a 50-foot fence, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder.” Europe hasn’t found an answer to illegal immigration. What can Americans and Europeans learn from each other?

Napolitano: That you have to be pragmatic. You have to avoid over-simplification from the far right and from the far left. Ultimately, you need to deal with the underlying immigration law and a reasonable immigration policy. At some point, when the time is appropriate, our president and congress will re-engage on the underlying immigration law. Right now, my task is to make smart enforcement decisions on the law that we have.

James P. comments:

In short, we will do nothing until we can ram an amnesty down the public’s throat. In the meantime the “smart enforcement decision” is no enforcement at all—just leave the floodgates open.

LA replies:

What could be a better attitude toward the prevention of illegal immigration? “Show me a 50-foot fence, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder.” I wonder how many Republicans senators approved her nomination.

- end of initial entry -

March 19

Terry Morris writes:

James P. wrote:

In the meantime the “smart enforcement decision” is no enforcement at all—just leave the floodgates open.

That is precisely right. But it’s nothing new for Napolitano; it is the only kind of “border security” that she understands. It is the same position she took as governor of Arizona, leaving the state’s immigration law lying on her desk for three years while thousands upon thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants streamed into and through her state. She was dragged kicking and screaming to the signing table when she finally did sign the bill into law. She is the worst possible selection Obama could have made to the post. She has no business serving in any position under the United States, but particularly she shouldn’t be allowed within miles of the Homeland Security Department.

Buddy in Atlanta writes:

Dear Secretary Napolitano,

Show me a 51-foot ladder, and I’ll show you a 52-foot fence.

Buddy in Atlanta

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 18, 2009 02:15 PM | Send