Washington DC  -  Anyone who has worked with livestock can tell you that no matter how good a pen you build, you can’t keep a calf in it unless all of the gates are closed.

Washington should do a better job of applying this commonsense lesson to homeland security.  Grant programs for first responders; better coordination between local, state and federal law enforcement; and a clear plan of response to terrorist threats are key to Americans’ safety from coast to coast.  By not having a clear-cut policy on immigration, however, we are complicating the jobs of the police officers, federal agents, and government officials charged with this task.

The unfortunate reality of post-September 11th America is that we can no longer afford to be as open, as trusting, or as relaxed a nation.  America is still a beacon of freedom to the world, but we are also a target for terrorists, criminals, and dictators who loathe the freedom we enjoy.

For these very reasons, the Congress split and reformed the Immigration and Naturalization Service two years ago.  The two new branches of immigration services, the U.S. Customs Service, and the new Transportation Security Administration all have new directives from the Department of Homeland Security.  All of these agencies need funds and good policy to carry out their mission of homeland security, but recent proposals to change immigration law in the U.S. have done nothing but undermine their position.

In the past several weeks, President Bush’s proposal of a guest-worker program that would give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in this country has created a problem the Administration did not forsee.  U.S. border patrols report that in some parts of the country, the numbers of aliens apprehended while sneaking over the U.S./Mexico border has tripled.  The vast majority of those detained, according to the Washington Times, say they are seeking amnesty in the U.S., enabling them to stay and work towards the benefits of citizenship.

Thousands of immigrants seeking status see this proposal to turn U.S. policy upside-down as their best and only chance to come to America.  The president’s proposal would reward them for intentionally breaking the law.  To would-be immigrants, the prospect of punishment is no deterrent compared to the lucrative possibility of amnesty.

Worse still, breaking the law is already easier, faster, and more successful than submitting to the legal immigration process.  Just ask the estimated 8 to 12 million illegal aliens living in America right now.

Illegal immigration is more than an enforcement problem, it drains local resources, saps government programs, and places undue burdens on health clinics and emergency rooms, among many other problems.  At a time when we are struggling to create steady jobs in rural America, a flood of cheap, illegal labor is detrimental to economic stability and growth.  Not to mention that the influx of illegal aliens resulting from the president’s proposal spreads an already thin border patrol even thinner, and exposes our borders to infiltration by enemies who would do America intentional, possibly devastating, harm.

Some colleagues of mine in the U.S. House of Representatives worry that a criminal as identifiable as Osama bin Laden, if he was in Canada, could easily cross the border into the U.S. 

Other politicians would focus on security for air travel but treat security at container ports, aboard passenger buses, and in the daily traffic between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico as lesser priorities.

Simply put, we cannot afford to allow insufficient border security or “reformed” immigration policy to threaten American lives and American economies.

Our border security already faces a monumental task in covering thousands of miles of our open border and coastline.  Complicating that work by offering an irresistible incentive for illegal immigration threatens the safety of our nation.  The president’s recent proposal will weaken international respect for the immigration laws we say we will enforce.

Obviously, Congress will consider reforms to strengthen border security.  Amnesty, however, should never be a part of the solution to close our porous borders.