Steve Brown, CNSNews.com
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003

Speaking in Mexico City on Friday after border security talks with President Vincente Fox, Pelosi said the action taken by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents amounted to "terrorizing raids."

But ICE agents, who are a component of the Department of Homeland Security, say they were simply doing their job: enforcing the law.

ICE spokesman Garrison Courtney told CNSNews.com that the department engaged in these kinds of activities every day. "Our job as an enforcement agency is to enforce the law, whether that's immigration, homeland security or customs. That's what we're tasked to do," Courtney said.

House immigration reform advocate Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., Tuesday took Pelosi to task for the statements.

'Embarrassing and Offensive'

"The fact that the highest-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House would equate enforcing our immigration laws with terrorism is both embarrassing and offensive," Tancredo said in a statement.

"Law enforcement officials are already fighting an uphill battle protecting our borders and enforcing our laws. They do not need political opportunists like Nancy Pelosi to use the issue as a way to pander for votes."

During her trip to Mexico, Pelosi was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "We think there might be a better way to go about this because the fact is that it is against the law for the employer to hire these people, so there should be more focus on the employer and less on these terrorizing raids."

Pelosi also used the occasion to tout amnesty for illegal workers, including the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act (H.R. 3142), which would grant citizenship status to 500,000 illegal workers in the agriculture industry.

Introduced Oct. 22 by Reps. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and Howard Berman, D-Calif., the bill, with 47 co-sponsors, awaits action in the House Judiciary Committee.

Robbing Americans to Help Lawbreakers

But critics of efforts to overlook the illegal status of aliens say such efforts have negative economic consequences for working Americans.

"What Congresswoman Pelosi seems to forget is that illegal aliens have infiltrated every segment of our economy and have displaced American workers and robbed American family of jobs they need," David Ray, spokesperson of Federation for American Immigration Reform, told CNSNews.com.

"Her lax enforcement mentality has resulted in real Americans losing their jobs to illegal aliens and suffering real hardships."

Pelosi's office did not return calls to CNSNews.com Tuesday.

'Appalling'

Calling Pelosi's remarks "appalling" and "one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard," Carlos Espinosa, press secretary for Tancredo, referred to a measure offered by the congressman to counter the amnesty bill.

"There's a huge rift between voters and what their elected officials are doing, and we're trying to close that rift as much as possible because the people don't want to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, especially 500,000 of them," Espinosa told CNSNews.com.

Tancredo's bill, the Mass Immigration Reduction Act (H.R. 946), would limit the number and category of immigrants allowed to enter the country each year and establish a "time out" to allow the federal government to control mass immigration and border security. According to Tancredo, it would be a big help to immigration law enforcers such as the ICE agents in last week's raids at Wal-Mart.

Some immigration activists applauded Pelosi's words. Saying she agreed with Pelosi, Katherine Culliton, civil rights attorney with Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), told CNSNews.com that U.S. immigration enforcement priorities were "off" and that ICE agents were "harassing" the wrong people.

"We're kind of shocked, in fact, that the new immigration department (ICE) has taken this tactic ... The last two INS commissioners were working toward enforcement priorities that went first toward criminals and people who pose a danger to U.S. society and not the poorest of the poor and the most humble people, who certainly don't need to be terrorized," Culliton said.

However, Courtney distanced his agency from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. Remarking that the INS was not a "very popular" agency, Courtney emphasized the agency's mission.

"It's our job to do that, and unless the law changes, we're going to keep doing that. That's what we're tasked to do. Under the INS, there was a kind of schizophrenic aura to the agency where you had [immigrant] benefits on one side and enforcement on the other side. Those really don't mix as an agency. It leaves the officers trying to figure out whether they are going to arrest an individual or grant him or her benefits," Courtney said.

'If They Want the Latino Vote ...'

Meanwhile, MALDEF vowed to continue the push for amnesty.

"This is the time for comprehensive immigration reform. It's something that both parties need to get interested in," Culliton said. "If they want the Latino vote, it's something they need to take a close look at."

Copyright CNSNews.com

Editor's note:
"Treason" - Ann Coulter exposes the anti-American left: Click here now for special offer

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2004 Elections
Bush Administration
DNC
Immigration/Borders
Latin America
RNC