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AZ CentralSignaling another partisan fight over immigration enforcement after next week's midterm elections, all seven Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee signed a letter last week asking the Department of Homeland Security how much money it needs to deport every illegal immigrant the government encounters.
The request came in an Oct. 21 letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and asks her to "detail exactly how much funding" would be needed "to ensure that enforcement of the law occurs consistently for every illegal alien encountered and apprehended." The Republican senators requested a response by Nov. 15, two weeks after the midterm elections.
The Obama administration, which in its first full year in office set a record for deportations by the United States, wants to continue its policy of focusing law enforcement resources on securing the border, bolstering the Border Patrol, and deporting dangerous and violent offenders who are in the U.S. illegally. At the same time, President Barack Obama supports legislative reforms that would create a path to legal status for longtime residents who meet specific criteria.
Republicans on key oversight committees in Congress favor a more uniform enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, whether the offender is an illegal who crossed the border and committed a violent crime or a grandmother who is pulled over by police for speeding after living in the U.S. for years. In an election cycle that has inflamed the debate, Republicans in leadership positions have been reluctant to endorse a potential path to legal status for any of the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.
An Obama administration official responded that the zero-tolerance approach suggested in the senators' letter is more political theater than a realistic plan for solving the nation's illegal immigration problem.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/10/29/20101029immigration-deportation-gop-senators.html
more Latino voters intimidation