Americans Want to See All Illegal Immigrants Deported

Editorial Page
March 28, 2007
In your "Winners and Losers" section (March 16), one comment stood out to me. It questions our government's immigration priority, suggesting that we should deport illegal aliens first who are in prison, then move on to people who pose no threat -- defined as those who have no criminal record.
Whoever made this statement is ignorant of our immigration policies. We already consistently deport aliens after they have served their time. Actually we should insist their home country require them to serve out the remainder of their time or bill their country of origin for the cost of incarceration.
Currently, Homeland Security is focusing with interior enforcement on three classes of illegal aliens beyond those not already incarcerated. One, those who have a previous deportation order and have not complied; two, those who are criminal aliens; and three, the most egregious workplace offenders, where whole businesses are given over to criminal activity.
Along the way, Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes across illegal aliens who have no arrest warrant or have committed no other known crime. They still are obligated to apprehend them, and the American people are wanting this done at least until we get control over this problem.
-- Clark T. Seeley, Woodburn