To the casual observer it would seem that Obama administration is at best inept and at worst apathetic when it comes to securing the border, prosecuting the drug cartels, and stemming the flow of illegal immigration.
Recently, I reported on the Obama administration’s decision not to extradite Walid “the Turk” Makled to the United States on drug trafficking charges, instead preferring he wind up in the hands of Hezbollah supporter Hugo Chavez. Makled smuggled 10 tons of cocaine into the United States, some of it through Mexico, and had substantial information on narcotics trafficking. Despite this, America deemed nothing more then a ‘petty criminal‘
There are also troubling signs of escalating violence. On December 14th, 2010, border patrol agent Brian Terry was gunned down by individuals trying to enter the country illegally. Robert Krentz, an Arizona rancher suffered a similar fate in March of that year.
Ben Lerner, Vice-President of Government Relations at the Center for Security Policy, chalks the lack of border security up to “our leadership’s apparent cluelessness as to how serious a problem we face and what to do about it.”
In an American Spectator article titled Walking Too Softly, Mr. Lerner outlines highlights misguided policies the Obama administration has adopted and the shocking shortcomings they have caused, including:
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was unable to account for the whereabouts of ten Libyan nationals previously in its custody. According to documents released by ICE, the agency had processed 27 Libyans in 2009 and 2010. The documents revealed that out of those 27 Libyans, ten were “booked in” or detained by ICE, then “booked out” or released — but critically, neither the documents themselves nor representatives of ICE could account for what happened to these ten Libyans after they were released inside the United States.“
“We are now learning that our intelligence agencies are detecting “flickers” of al Qaeda among anti-Qaddafi forces. And as others have pointed out, Libya is a leading country-of-origin for the oft-mentioned “foreign fighters” that have been attacking our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“The Departments of Interior and Agriculture’s implementation of land use laws have resulted in Border Patrol being denied access to public lands along the border in a timely fashion, creating entire swaths of border area through which smugglers can pass virtually without intervention.”
“The startling assertion by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) earlier this year that Border Patrol has operational control of only 44% of the southern border.”
Read the full article at the American Spectator here.
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