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No Immigration Reform, but Plenty of Studies of the Issues

Researchers comb through the wide-ranging and complex issue of immigration reform and enforcement.
Image: U.S. Air and Marine Helicopters Patrol U.S-Mexico Border In California
File photo of a U.S. Office of Air and Marine (OAM) pilot before patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border on October 1, 2013 in San Diego, California. John Moore / Getty Images

The debate over how to stem illegal immigration and secure the border played out Tuesday in separate reports on different aspects of the issue.

An American Immigration Council analysis of 809 abuse complaints lodged against the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2009-12 found that in 472 cases there was no action taken, while 324 were still under investigation. Six complaints led to counseling, two to court proceedings against the perpetrator, two led to oral reprimand of the accused and another two resulted in written reports. One led to suspension.

A report from the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a bipartisan coalition of 37 Latino organizations, said in a report the Latino community is disproportionately affected by the nation’s broken immigration polices and the administration’s enforcement methods. The coalition said that “in light of Congress’ failure to enact immigration reform,” President Barack Obama should halt deportations through prosecutorial discretion and expand deportation relief. “Until the president decides to exercise and implement that authority, the Latino community will continue to disproportionately suffer … .”

The Bipartisan Policy Center issued a study of the efforts to build an entry-exit system to better crack down on people who fail to leave the country before their permission to be here expires. The study spells out progress on an entry-exit system, but underscores that the system is not in place on the southern border and setting one up is fraught with challenges.

--Suzanne Gamboa