Posted on December 7, 2004

Will ‘Amnesty’ Talk Bring Illegal Flood?

Leslie Berestein, San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 29

A renewed focus on immigration reform after the election by the Bush administration is making some Border Patrol agents nervous.

They are worried that misinformation about an “amnesty” program will trickle down to prospective immigrants by word-of-mouth, resulting in a surge in illegal immigration similar to the one noted last spring, after President Bush announced plans for a foreign guest-worker program in January.

Already there have been increases in apprehensions borderwide during this month, compared to the same period a year ago.

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Between Nov. 1 and Nov. 23, there were 51,759 apprehensions of undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to preliminary federal estimates. This is a 14 percent increase over the 45,355 apprehensions during the same period a year ago.