Census bureau gets it wrong on illegal count

AP/Fox News:

The Census Bureau wants immigration agents to suspend enforcement raids during the 2010 census so the government can better count illegal immigrants.

Raids during the population count would make an already distrustful group even less likely to cooperate with government workers who are supposed to include them, the Census Bureau's second-ranking official said in an Associated Press interview.

Deputy Director Preston Jay Waite said immigration enforcement officials did not conduct raids for several months before and after the 2000 census. But today's political climate is even more volatile on the issue of illegal immigration.

Enforcement agents "have a job to do," Waite said. "They may not be able to give us as much of a break" in 2010.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman declined to say whether immigration officials would halt raids. "If we were, we wouldn't talk about it," Pat Reilly said.

"For us to suspend that enforcement would probably take a lot more than one meeting," Reilly said. "We would have to discuss this at the highest levels of both agencies."

The issue arises as the U.S. struggles to resolve the fate of an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. After Congress failed to pass an immigration overhaul sought by the president, the Bush administration last week said it would step up efforts to enforce immigration laws.

One lawmaker said she thinks "it's nuts" for the Census Bureau to ask for a break in enforcement.

"I don't know what country the Census Bureau is living in," Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., said in a telephone interview from her district. "I can tell them the American people have grown sick and tired of their immigration laws not being enforced. They are not going to tolerate enforcement being suspended for any amount of time."

...

Miller is right. What the Census Bureau is suggesting is reinforcing the lack of seriousness many in government have toward enforcing the rule of law on immigration. They should be turning that data over to ICE so those here illegally can be removed. The same thing should happen when illegals present themselves for treatment at health care facilities. They should receive the needed treatment, but also should be turned over to immigration authorities. If their kids enroll in school, teach them while the deportation process is underway, but do not ignore the crime.