Bush Gets Tough on Illegal Immigrants

Alden, Edward. "Bush Gets Tough on Illegal Immigrants."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/bush_gets_tough_on_illegal_immigrants_a43FqbQA2dyN0ULHT5n9NN

This Article from the New York Post online is from October of 2008, and discusses (at the time) president George Bush's crackdown on illegal immigrants in the United States. During the year of 2008 the raids on workplaces resulted in a huge increase in arrests. According to the article, "These are only the tip of the enforcement campaign. On any given day, more than 30,000 illegal immigrants are crowded into jail cells awaiting deportation. Annual deportations now exceed a quarter million, the highest level in US history. And, as the Department of Homeland Security proudly displays on its home page, 352.1 miles of fence has been built along the Mexican border, and 17,327 Border Patrol agents are deployed to guard what's left." Looking back to when Bush was governor of Texas, he argued that, "a crackdown on illegal immigrants was morally bankrupt and politically foolhardy. As president, his first foreign policy initiative was to try to negotiate a migration accord with Mexico in which both countries would seek a humane solution." The article goes on to discuss how the crackdowns will affect not only Hispanic, but all voters in the presidential elections.

This article shifted my whole angle on illegal immigration. The Bush administration had a huge impact on illegal immigration- the laws put in effect, the deception in his promises regarding illegal immigrants. Bush's reform in illegal immigration to me seems that it did not have the best intentions for the people, rather wanted to get a certain group of people out of the country no matter what the extent was. Rather than giving illegal immigrants a sort of "grace time" in the country during which time they could come forth and admit to being in the country illegally, and they could apply for citizenship, as he had made it seem he would. Instead, those already in the country were living in complete fear, and there rights were violated by the crackdowns completely. After reading this article, I would like to focus my research more on illegal immigration according to the Bush administration and his intentions.