Census Wants Immigration Raids Suspended

Census Bureau To Ask Immigration Officials To Halt Raids During 2010 Count

(AP)  The Census Bureau wants immigration agents to suspend enforcement raids during the 2010 census so the government can better count illegal immigrants.

Raids during the population count would make an already distrustful group even less likely to cooperate with government workers who are supposed to include them, the Census Bureau's second-ranking official said in an Associated Press interview.

Deputy Director Preston Jay Waite said immigration enforcement officials did not conduct raids for several months before and after the 2000 census. But today's political climate is even more volatile on the issue of illegal immigration.

Enforcement agents "have a job to do," Waite said. "They may not be able to give us as much of a break" in 2010.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman declined to say whether immigration officials would halt raids. "If we were, we wouldn't talk about it," Pat Reilly said.

"For us to suspend that enforcement would probably take a lot more than one meeting," Reilly said. "We would have to discuss this at the highest levels of both agencies."

The issue arises as the United States struggles to resolve the fate of an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. After Congress failed to pass an immigration overhaul sought by the president, the Bush administration last week said it would step up efforts to enforce immigration laws.

One lawmaker said she thinks "it's nuts" for the Census Bureau to ask for a break in enforcement.

"I don't know what country the Census Bureau is living in," Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., said in a telephone interview from her district. "I can tell them the American people have grown sick and tired of their immigration laws not being enforced. They are not going to tolerate enforcement being suspended for any amount of time."

The Constitution requires the Census Bureau to count everyone, including illegal immigrants, in the census. The once-a-decade population count is then used to apportion seats in Congress and to appropriate billions of dollars in federal spending each year.

Miller has introduced a constitutional amendment that would apportion seats in Congress based only on the number of U.S. citizens in each state.

The Census Bureau plans to approach all federal agencies for help in getting an accurate count, Waite said.

Illegal immigrants are notoriously hard to count, although outside experts estimate that census workers count 85 percent to 90 percent of them.

Census workers ask immigrants if they are citizens; they do not ask if they are in the country legally.

"We're supposed to count every resident. If you go out and ask, 'Are you here illegally?' they are going to run," said Kenneth Prewitt, who directed the Census Bureau during the 2000 census.

Prewitt said the public already is suspicious of government workers knocking on their doors and asking personal questions. Those suspicions are amplified among illegal immigrants, even though personal information collected by Census Bureau is private by law.

Prewitt said immigration officials informally agreed to cooperate with the Census Bureau during the 2000 census by not conducting any large-scale raids.

"If they had a reason to think it was important to carry out an action, they would have done so," Prewitt said. "But they did offer to cooperate as much as possible so they didn't create a climate of fear. They did not carry out any major raids."

Reilly, the immigration enforcement spokeswoman, said she could not confirm any informal agreements to scale back enforcement during the 2000 census.

She said the agency "continued to perform its duty to enforce the nation's immigration laws by continuing to investigate, pursue and arrest criminal and other egregious violators."

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, said the intense debate over immigration has made immigrants even more suspicious of the government today.

"The Census Bureau has a job to do," said Vargas, who belongs to a committee that advises the bureau on the 2010 census. "They need to convince people that they need to report themselves to the federal government and that it's going to remain confidential. That's a hard sell."

Supporters of stricter immigration laws said the whole discussion of suspending raids shows that the immigration system is broken.

"If you don't enforce your laws, this is what you are going to get, one agency asking another agency to subvert the law," said Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

[klingon69]

Nope, I have never met one. I have met undocumented workers and future American citizens, but not a single illegal alien.
Posted by SgtRDS at 12:07 AM : Aug 18, 2007

Semantics, that''s all. Call them whatever you want Randal. The fact remains they entered this country illegally, they used fraudulent means to acquire work, which is also illegal. They have used identity theft to remain, also illegal. So, call them boogy boogy bump bump for all I care. The fact is that they are ILLEGAL ALIENS/IMMIGRANTS/BOOGY BOOGY BUMP BUMP.

btw: What''s for dinner?

[sgtrds]

Maybe you would prefer the term squatters, leeches, scum. I prefer ILLEGAL ALIEN!

Posted by Klingon69 at 09:23 AM : Aug 17, 2007

Nope, I have never met one. I have met undocumented workers and future American citizens, but not a single illegal alien.

[jetranger7]

BREAKING NEWS: Just Today 3 Women in Kansas City were indicted on Mortage Fraud , for Illegally helping "ILLEGAL ALIENS" obtain Fraudulent Mortages into the "MILLIONS" to buy houses etc. These 3 women encourged the "ILLEGAL ALIENS" to use FAKE Social Security Numbers and other identification to process those Fraudulent loans !They also used fake credentials to obtain fraudulent Drivers licenses ! More on this story can be found at :WWW.KCTV5.COM article on 3 women indicted for helping illegals on mortage fraud !! (WWW.KCTV5.COM)

[lostcountry1]

if they use the counting of every legal and illegal citizen, then we''ve been getting hosed for quite some time.it kinda tells you why the beaurocrats are not too interested in deporting them.more TRAITORS.who should go to jail first? the traitors or the illegals?

[tucano2]

Are these people totally out of touch with reality? Given a chance DHS/ICE could clean out the rat''s nests of criminals and deport them. The problem is that Mr. Bush is owned by multinational corporations that have no responsibility but want to order USA citizens around to suit their profit motives. There is no profit in anti-Americanism.

[frankinaz]

This is just what illegal immigrants and their employers want to hear: That the Census Bureau is going to stop deporting illegal immigrants temporarily. That''s just great, encourage more illegal immigration while the census is being taken. Rep. Miller is correct: What planet is the
person(s) idea of stopping these raids on? The opposite should be done to get the numbers of LEGAL citizens right for the apportionment of the House! With 12 million estimated illegal immigrants in this country, (and more pouring in),
they can''t deport these people fast enough! Strict enforcement of existing immigration laws are needed now, not to mention changes and amendments as time and society changes!

[klingon69]

If I hear the phrase "liberal press" one more time I''''m going to puke

LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS...









Oh









in









case









you









didn''t









hear









LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS LIBERAL PRESS

[klingon69]

For example, anyone coming from England would never be an illegal alien because there is OPEN access to immigration for people coming from England. There is no standard list that everyone could sign-up for. It would be nice if there was.
Posted by whatithink at 05:21 AM : Aug 17, 2007
Then why was a friend of mine picked up and held for deportation, because his parents brought him over at the age of 3.

[ralan40]

I would think that the count would be easier if the difficult-to track illegals were removed from the equation.
The census'' reasoning makes no sense. The task will not be easier if the numbers are allowed to increase as they are currently.
Here''s an idea, using that logic... we could solve the obesity issue in this country if we rationed food, right?

[menofoz]

I don''''''''t know any "illegal aliens", all I know are undocumented workers, future Americans, future citizens from other countries, not one of them is a criminal from another planet.
Posted by SgtRDS at 10:36 PM : Aug 16, 2007
Since the term Alien here refers to non-citizens, in this country it does apply to these illegals.
Maybe you would prefer the term squatters, leeches, scum. I prefer ILLEGAL ALIEN!

Posted by Klingon69 at 09:23 AM : Aug 17, 2007

Randies brain doesn''t fit around this issue he prefers to continue to push the amnesty side of things. He probably doesn''t have any kids, is old and won''t be around much longer 20 million=100 million illegal aliens all unbiased studies have already shown in many different areas the negative impact on Americans.

[lostcountry1]

how long do you think it will take to occupy every acre of land in the united states? how long will it take to use up all of the resources? it''s not about sharing fairly. the operative word being fairly,. would it make more sense to takeover mexico? why not, we could truely bring about a better democracy for the mexican people if we could bring justice to their government. instead we have been lied to and are trying to bring democracy to a country that hates us even more, iraq. they would stop running here, if they could be treated fairly in their own country. no second ammendment right is what allows the mexican government to control its people like so much useable trash. thats why i say they should fight for change in their own country,or some day we may have to takeover mexico. at least they would appreciate it.

[randaids]

My inclination is to believe that we have 20 MILLION or more ILLEGALS HERE .... not the downplayed 12 Million the media keeps throwing around.
Posted by Dowjones20k at 12:16 PM : Aug 17, 2007
+ report abuse

I''''ll bet we are on the high side of the estimate also. I can round up at least a few hundred within a 10 mile raidus of where I live and I''''m not in a big city.
Posted by olebd at 12:19 PM : Aug 17, 2007

You should report them allto ICE!

[olebd]

My inclination is to believe that we have 20 MILLION or more ILLEGALS HERE .... not the downplayed 12 Million the media keeps throwing around.
Posted by Dowjones20k at 12:16 PM : Aug 17, 2007
+ report abuse

I''ll bet we are on the high side of the estimate also. I can round up at least a few hundred within a 10 mile raidus of where I live and I''m not in a big city.

[dowjones20k]

Odd how the politicians ignore some of the most important decisions at this juncture of history ... but we know they are trying to increase a voting block for personal gain ..

I find it preposterous that every single member of congress does not step up and vote to ENFORCE THE LAWS we have on the books. a majority are liars (lawyers) who as officers of the court are required to uphold the law. Everyone of them should be disbarred and thrown in jail !!!


If they want to change them, then so be it, put their bu**s out there and see if they are man or woman enough to vote thier conscience.

In the mean time, it is time to UPHOLD THE LAWS on the BOOKS and get these ILLEGAL ALIENS out of this country and CLOSE the borders.

My inclination is to believe that we have 20 MILLION or more ILLEGALS HERE .... not the downplayed 12 Million the media keeps throwing around.

[olebd]

The census takers could double as ICE agents so that when they find the illegals as they are doing their census, they can call in back up and get them rounded up! Perfect use of our tax dollars.

[mnelsonix]

Posted by lostcountry1:

""...provide law enforcement with the whereabouts of every illegal they know about. What country do these people work for anyway?""

GOOD QUESTION!

[mnelsonix]

This "Native American" argument doesn''t fly! We US citizens own this land legally at this time. The past owners are irrelevant. The invaders crossing our borders without permission are criminals PERIOD.

If you have some emotional connection, or better yet, a monetary connection to the invaders, though shjt. Get over it. All nations must protect their borders or they are no longer nations.

[gunnerv1]

jairod - If we kicked everbody out except "Native Americans" then we would have to remove the "Indians/Red Man" Because the orginals came from Siberia on the Siberian land bridge 10,000-20,000 years ago.

[lostcountry1]

every day i see another story of how the media is kissing up to the polititians, especially the dems. ,by trying to circumvent the LAW in regards to illegal immigrants.if they have been reading these posts, and i hope they do, they would see that we are tired of the drag these people are putting on our country.i post for upholding the law and only deportation and border security is acceptable. if people cant see this as a ''passive takeover'' of america, then you must not be that interested in the history of this country, nor the future of it. i want to continue to see an AMERICAN flag flying at the white house. not a mexican one.anyone who wants illegals here is either one of them, or wants to exploit them for personal gain.

[mnelsonix]

""By 2010, there may not be many illegal aliens left to count! :) YEAH, BABY!!!!!
Posted by infidel_us""

True...because they will have been granted amnesty!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note...
As many bloggers have pointed out for a long-long time, there is a difference between illegal immigrants and legal immigrants. (infidel_us knows what I mean) Some folks just don''t get it so I propose a small change in the nomenclature.

1st) Remove the term "illegal immigrant" from the American lexicon.

2nd) Define anyone here legally as an "immigrant."

3rd) Define anyone here illegally as an "invader."

It makes no difference their country of origin or their race, (This will, in theory, remove the race baiting from the argument) if they are here illegally, they are INVADERS!

If you don%u2019t like the term invader, try "plunderer" or "squatter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And finally...
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle seems to be at work here. Does anyone else see the relationship?