House Subcommittee Chair Wants Better Policies, More Immigration Enforcement Funding
by Chad Groening
November 11, 2003
(AgapePress) - A U.S. congressman says he has a problem with a number of immigration policies the White House has undertaken.According to Congressman John Hostettler, chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, there is cause to question the adequacy of funding for immigration enforcement. But that is only one area of concern; the Indiana Republican disagrees with the direction the Bush Administration is taking on several immigration issues.
Hostettler wants the Administration to review government decisions that encourage or legitimize illegal alien presence in the United States, such as the U.S. Treasury Department's decision to accept Mexican Consular cards as identification for aliens seeking to open bank accounts, or other federal policies that would offer unregistered persons potential amnesty.
Besides calling such policies into question, Hostettler also wants to make sure President George W. Bush is aware of the need to provide more funding to enforce existing immigration policies that are effective.
"What we're finding out now is that we have a lot of good policy in place," the Congressman says, but he points out that immigration officials do not necessarily have the means to carry out that policy. "We need more resources to actually enforce the laws that we have on the books," he says.
The Immigration Subcommittee chairman feels that certainly U.S. immigration policies need to be honed, and he would like to see the federal government look more closely at some cities' sanctuary laws and the use of bogus foreign consulate-issued I.D. cards as identification in the U.S.
But Hostettler feels the issue of better funding is particularly essential to allow officials to get a handle on the growing problem of illegal alien smuggling and other enforcement problems. "We really need to look at the issue," he says.
