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The recent tragic accident involving illegal aliens in San Juan County underscores how broken current U.S. immigration policy is and how vital it is for Congress to actually do something about it.
Eight died and six others were injured when an overloaded vehicle crashed!
What law enforcement officers said following the wreck is revealing. The flow of illegal workers through San Juan County has turned into a torrent. On one night, for example, an officer pulled over nine vehicles carrying a total of 130 illegal aliens.
What to do with them?
There isn't enough jail space to hold them. Besides, to arrest them all would overwhelm the rural county's court system. As one officer said, "It's like trying to stop a river with a shovel." Federal immigration officers seldom get involved, so the illegals usually are sent on their way.
In early April, President Bush again offered a reasonable four-pronged approach to resolving the crisis: more border security; better enforcement of immigration laws throughout the country; a temporary worker program to address labor shortages; and "resolving without amnesty and without animosity" the status of millions of illegal immigrants already entwined in America's economic fabric.
Without realistic immigration reform, such as proposed by President Bush, America's rural byways will remain a conduit for smugglers who do their deed with reckless impunity.
