The Heritage Foundation - Leadership for America

Roll Call reports today that “House Democrats are crafting scaled-down immigration reform legislation” that creates new “five-year visas for illegal immigrants who pay fines and pass criminal background checks.”

A major reason amnesty legislation failed last summer is because Americans knew the Department of Homeland Security could never process the millions of background checks the legislation promised, especially in the allotted 24-hour time frame. Many of the shortfalls in homeland security since 9/11 can be directly traced to Congress piling more missions and responsibilities on the DHS than it could practically accomplish.

Giving more missions to DHS now is a strategy for failure. Instead, Congress should let DHS focus on its current missions and mandates, using its existing authority to secure the border, enforce the law, and provide a powerful deterrent to future illegal migration.