Earlier this week, President-elect Barack Obama named Arizona governor Janet Napolitano his choice for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the department that is responsible for enforcing the nation’s immigration laws among other activities. As a border state governor, she has faced immigration concerns more directly than other possible candidates and observers familiar with her record in Arizona have mixed opinions on her selection.
Napolitano was named a US attorney by President Bill Clinton, was elected Arizona’s attorney general in 1998 and elected governor four years later, winning re-election in 2006. In 1997, while she was a US attorney with jurisdiction over the Border Patrol and a candidate for state attorney general, a joint effort by local police and Border Patrol agents rounded up suspected illegal immigrants and deported more than 400 illegals in Phoenix suburb Chandler.
What became known as the Chandler Roundup was highly controversial because scores of US-born and naturalized citizens of Latino descent were detained in the wide net cast by law enforcement and forced to produce birth certificates or citizenship papers. One Chandler police officer later told state investigators that one criteria used to detain suspected illegals was a “smell” common to the undocumented.
Protests and lawsuits followed as well as angry defenses of the roundup. Ruben Navarette, Jr. of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote in an editorial:
It was an ugly time in the modern history of Arizona and a defining moment that separated leaders from followers. According to Napolitano's critics, and from my own vantage point covering the conflict, she was in the second camp. There were maybe a dozen activists, elected officials and media figures taking arrows from pro-roundup nativists - while Napolitano […] hid under her desk. The most she was willing to do was to say her office had made a referral to the Justice Department.
Napolitano also has a mixed record on enforcement of the controversial Real ID program run by the department she will be leading. Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 to tighten standards for driver’s licenses and prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving them. It requires states to adopt federal standards for handling drivers’ personal information and to share that information with other states. Governors and other state officials have criticized Real ID as an expensive unfunded mandate and privacy advocates have expressed concerns that the program amounts to a national identification card,with civil liberties and privacy implications.
In 2007, Napolitano was one of the first governors to reach an agreement with DHS to produce hybrid driver’s licenses/border crossing identification cards that can be used as a substitute for US passports at the US-Mexico border. The cards have radio frequency tags and are designed to comply with Real ID requirements. A press release from August 2007 touted the new driver’s licenses as one of the nation’s first to comply with Real ID requirements.
However, in June 2008, Arizona lawmakers passed legislation that prohibited the state from complying with Real ID and Napolitano signed the bill, effectively taking positions on both sides of the issue.
Supporters of the H1-B visas for temporary guest workers are optimistic about Napolitano’s nomination. Napolitano has expressed support for increasing the H-1B visa cap to address a shortage of skilled workers, including those who hold advanced degrees.
From Indiatimes Infotech:
The new DHS secretary is said to be among the 12 governors who had sent a letter in September 2007 to congressional leaders in both parties urging a hike visa cap. The governors reportedly wrote, "Until we are able to address this workforce shortage, we must recognize that foreign talent has a role to play in our ability to keep companies located in our state and country; and therefore, need to ensure the increase availability of temporary H-1B visas and permanent residency visas (green cards)."
In naming her his choice to lead DHS, Obama praised Napolitano’s experience and said she “knows firsthand the need to have a partner in Washington that works well with state and local governments.” The young department has critical responsibilities including airport and presidential security and emergency response management and needs a strong and decisive leader. For the sake of the country, we hope Napolitano proves her critics wrong and Obama right.
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