GovernmentExecutive.com

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's push for Congress to end a provision prohibiting the deportation of most illegal immigrants from El Salvador may become a hot-button political issue. Rather than reversing the provision before November's midterm congressional elections, lawmakers may instead seek to provide DHS with additional funding for detention facilities.

The provisions were enacted two decades during a civil war in El Salvador. That conflict, Chertoff has pointed out, ended in the 1990s.

DHS officials say they have spent nearly $250 million this fiscal year to detain Salvadorans.

"The average stay for El Salvador nationals caught at the border is 65 days, at an average cost of $95 per night," said DHS spokesman Jarrod Agen, compared to one- to three-week stays for other non-Mexicans. Mexicans are deported even more expeditiously.

Some Salvadorans are released back into the United States; others are sent to other nations, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Ernestine Fobbs. The other countries must agree to accept them.

It's unclear where legislation of the type Chertoff is pushing would originate on Capitol Hill.

"That's probably our jurisdiction," said a source on the House Judiciary Committee, who added, "I've heard a lot of grumbling about this from the [Bush] administration" for the past six months.

However, the source said, despite Chertoff's call for the legislation to be passed before the November midterm elections, no action has been taken in the committee to have a bill ready when lawmakers return from summer recess.

Some members of Congress might balk at Chertoff's call to end the provision. There is still a lot of sympathy among Hispanics in the United States for the plight of Salvadorans -- who, despite the end of the civil war there, still face social strife in their homeland.

Rather than jeopardize Hispanic votes, lawmakers could seek to beef up funding for DHS' detention centers. Such funds could be used either to build new facilities or to rent additional space.

"We may construct some new detention facilities, but there is excess bed capacity in state and local facilities that is available to the extent we can afford it," said a DHS source who works regularly with lawmakers.

COMMENTS

• Well, Brittney, I think that while you appear to be a compassionate person, you really don't know anything about this issue. The population of this country just topped 300 million, and unlike the old days, when there was plenty of room for everyone, things are now getting pretty crowded. We have the most generous immigration policy of any nation on earth, and legally take more in immigrants than the rest of the world combined. That's the key -- legal immigration. Considering how much of the world lives in poverty and lacks freedom, I'm sure that at least half of the world wouldn't mind coming here. That amounts to 3 billion people, more or less. Would you let them all in? What would you do then about providing food, water, education, health care, jobs, and other services for these people? I love people, too, but that doesn't mean I can open my door and let in anyone who wants to live in my house! And the million and a half dollar figure you refer to actually is a very small percentage of our gross domestic product. This boycott did nothing to harm our economy, so what's your point? No doubt you mean well, but you sure are naive! GovExec.com reader Posted October 18, 2006 3:19 PM
• Brittany, I'm not against immigration. I am against crime, which is what these illegal immigrants are committing. But, we allow it when we don't force our government to punish those that hire them. It has nothing to do with love -- it has to do with accountability. I couldn't commit a crime and get away with it. Why should they be able to? Why don't they force their government to improve their economy instead of illegally coming here and putting a heavier burden on our health care and education systems? GovExec.com reader Posted October 19, 2006 7:51 AM
• Are you all forgetting that everybody, except Native Americans, is descended from immigrants? Ever heard of loving people? You should all try to be that. It's actually nice. And if you think they do not contribute to the economy of this country, I must say you are very wrong. If you must know, we had a day this year where all illegal immigrants abstained from buying anything. Some even did not work if they weren't jeopardized by their choice. And this country went down, in just one day, almost a million and a half dollars. What do you think of that? Brittney Posted October 17, 2006 11:47 PM