February 1, 2007

To Whom it May Concern:

We, the undersigned, have arrived at a consensus about the national debate on the issue of immigration reform. Based on that consensus we have prepared a position paper articulating our viewpoints, accompanied by justifications for each point of view. It has been signed by nearly three-hundred former officers.

Our group has an institutional knowledge that is deep and broad. There is recollection going back to the early 1950s represented here, and there is a cumulative experience base reckoned in terms of centuries. Among us are individuals who have served at all levels within the Border Patrol and its old parent organization, the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Immigration reform is an issue that arises periodically in the national consciousness. The last time it rose to the level we see now was twenty years ago, when the Congress gave us the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Everyone who has signed this paper has first-hand recall of that act, and knows that while it may have changed immigration for this country, it neither reformed nor controlled it. The predictable results of it are the situation we see today.

It appears that there is a move under way to saddle the nation once again with law containing the same flaws found in the 1986 act, but now on scale unimagined at that time. We believe that the results for the nation will be disastrous if anything is passed that resembles what has been under debate in the Senate recently.

The nation has made demonstrable mistakes in the past in its efforts to control immigration. Let us, who were there to see them, remind the nation of the outcome and make suggestions for change.

We offer here our collective thoughts on the issues. Officers are available for further comment.

Kent Lundgren
Chairman
National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers