From Representative Vicky Hartzler's (r) town hall in Blue Springs, Missouri on April 28, 2011:
....Representative [Vicky] Hartzler [(r)]: [inaudible] [crosstalk] Yeah, I was gonna say another aspect of it is more enforcement, I said, of current laws of, of these employers, making sure that employers, uh, don't hire people who are here illegally. And that enforcement has not been, uh, like it should be, especially under the current administration. And so, there's several things we'd do, but I appreciate what you're saying. We need to, we need to do that....
[emphasis added]
Really?:
....Obama’s enforcement efforts exceed his Republican predecessor’s
The final argument the “border security first” crowd raises is that President Obama’s Department of Homeland Security demonstrates a lack of commitment to immigration and border enforcement that undermines public confidence in any changes to immigration law. The numbers tell a different story.
The Obama administration deported 392,862 people during fiscal year 2010—nearly half of these deportees were convicted of a crime. Over the last two years they have deported more than 779,000 people, which is an 18 percent increase from President George W. Bush’s last two fiscal years in office.
Not only that, but the administration continues to engage state and local law enforcement officers by aggressively deploying a number of controversial programs such as the 287(g) and Secure Communities initiatives, which aim to give specific immigration enforcement functions to nonfederal agents. Secure Communities expanded from 14 jurisdictions in 2008 to over 1,000 today.
What’s more, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, ramped up its workforce compliance efforts to unprecedented levels. ICE charged 180 employers with criminal violations related to unlawful hiring in FY 2010 and conducted more than 2,200 audits. Those audits resulted in nearly $43 million in penalties....
[emphasis added]
So, if the Bush administration did less than the Obama administration and you're especially critical of the current administration, does that mean you're even more critical of the Bush administration's record?
Oh, yeah, that's right. *IOKIYAR
* it's okay if you're a republican
Complete transcripts of the town hall:
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Blue Springs, part 1 (April 29, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Blue Springs, part 2 (April 30, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Blue Springs, part 3 (May 1, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Blue Springs, part 4 - Q and A (May 2, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Blue Springs, part 5 - Q and A (May 3, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Harrisonville, Missouri - the reviews are in (April 29, 2011)