By Julianne LaJeunesse, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

If you could count all of the concerns that were thrown at U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, it might make you more than a math whiz, it might make you curious. Curious as to why and how the department is going to handle international border issues, cyber terrorism and how the U.S. legal system will adequately handle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s New York City trial.

The committee hearing was intended to provide oversight over DHS, and several times the role of the department was questioned. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) asked Napolitano about the department’s role in protecting cyber security, suggesting the entity may not be the best group for the job.

“When you take out the technical aspects, and the legal aspects, it’s hard to see how Homeland Security ends up with a very strong platform for persistent leadership, unless there’s some vehicle for coordinating the DNI [Director of National Intelligence], and you, and the Attorney General, and everybody together, and I’m not comfortable that that presently exists,” Whitehouse said. “I think the NSC [National Security Council] is a good interim measure, but it would seem that that should evolve into a more formal cyber-specific government structure at some point.”

Though Whitehouse suggested that cyber security could be handled by another government arm, too much government role was a theme that Senators Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) and Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said may be unnecessary. The two said transportation measures, such as some airport securities and aggressive border patrol practices, could be safely downgraded if proof of their need doesn’t exist.

“I wonder, do you have results as to what all of these elaborate tests at airports show?” Specter asked. “Is all of it really necessary? Because if it is, fine.”

Generally, however, the committee was not ready to dismiss the precautions taken by the department, and indeed did call for more action from Napolitano and her staff in regard to answering questions about how best to deal with issues of illegal immigrant labor and its good and bad effects on U.S. farming. Napolitano didn’t have a direct comment on the utility of illegal immigrant employment, but did say that the DHS is starting to better track immigrants who have overstayed the Visa allowance.

Similarly, the Secretary left Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to prosecute Khalid Sheik Mohmmamed, one of five suspected September 11th terrorists, to the U.S. Department of Justice, saying, “that is a prosecution decision, as to where, and in what venue to bring a case.” “I believe that is properly held by the AG.”

Talk Radio News Service’s Geoff Holtzman speaks with Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) during the “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” radio row in Washington, D.C. Hoekstra says that due to healthcare reform and energy legislation, Congress probably won’t address immigration reform until 2010 at the earliest. On issues such as the economy and healthcare, the Congressman says that his constituents are urging him to oppose any legislation that would allow for the expansion of government. (6:09)

 

 Standard Podcast [6:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart explains exactly how a resolution his county passed in 2008 works to crack down on illegal immigrants. Stewart then says that the Obama administration will soon require Prince William County to release some of the illegal immigrants it has rounded up since the resolution took effect last year. (:57)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart says that an independent study conducted last year by researchers from the University of Virginia verified that the county’s drop in violent crime was a direct result of a crack down on illegal immigrants. In 2008, Prince William County, led by Stewart, became one of the first local jurisdictions in the country to enact local immigration laws. A resolution the county passed requires all police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they arrest. (:27)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R) says that Democratic lawmakers in Fairfax County, Va and Montgomery County, Md, who once lambasted him for enforcing local illegal immigration laws, are beginning to see that what his county did last year was smart. In 2008, Prince William County became one of the first local jurisdictions in the country to crack down on illegal immigrants. (:38)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart says that his county has experienced a dramatic drop in crime since it became one of the first localities in the nation to enforce illegal immigration laws over a year ago. In 2008, the county, led by Stewart, voted to require its police officers to check the immigration status of every person it arrested. (:55)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart outlines ways in which local jurisdictions can legally crack down on illegal immigrants living in their areas. Led by Stewart, Prince William County in 2008 became one of the first counties to require that police officers check the immigration status of every person they arrest. (:30)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Talk Radio News Service’s Geoff Holtzman speaks with Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) at the 2009 “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” radio row in Washington, D.C. King comments on efforts he has made to try and pressure the federal government to get serious about enforcing existing illegal immigration laws. The Congressman also gives his assessment of the current situation on the U.S.-Mexico border where he visited earlier this summer. (7:18)

 

 Standard Podcast [7:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Mariko Lamb – Talk Radio News Service

Representative Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) reintroduced the SAVE Act, a bipartisan immigration bill that would increase border security, provide law enforcement with the tools to better ensure that immigration policy is followed, increase the number of immigration judges and utilize E-Verify, a system designed to ensure employee eligibility.

Shuler said that although multiple parts of the U.S. immigration system are broken, “this is the initial step to make sure that this broken system is fixed.”

“With high unemployment, half a million people losing their jobs every day, we have to ensure that Americans and legal immigrants get those jobs, not those who are breaking the law,” he said.

Senator David Vitter (R-La.), one of the 74 bipartisan co-sponsors of the bill, said that the SAVE Act is a “common sense immigration approach” that “is supported by a broad consensus of the American people.”

“The American people get it. They know that illegal immigration is a serious problem, and they know that the way to fix it is enforcement at the borders, enforcement at the workplace, and not having an amnesty program,” Vitter said.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) says that incorporating an effective employment verification system is the only way to truly end illegal immigration, and that getting it done is merely a question of political will (0:18).

 

 Standard Podcast [0:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download