Napolitano Needs to Go

            Some Republican congressmen have suggested that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano should resign. It probably won’t happen, but one can certainly hope.

            As governor of Arizona Napolitano was decidedly against immigration law enforcement. When she endorsed some enforcement measures, it was only grudgingly, in response to intense public pressure. Now that she’s in charge of Homeland Security, her pro-illegal alien bias is plain for all to see.

            In point of fact, Napolitano is not even sure that illegal immigration is exactly illegal. Said the secretary, “crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil.” Actually it is a crime, a misdemeanor the first time according, to 8 U.S.C. 1325, and a felony for every crossing thereafter. Document fraud, which most illegals commit, is a felony.

            In another instance of apparent indifference to immigration law, Napolitano publicly criticized the arrest of illegal aliens in Bellingham, Washington. She decided to give them work permits.   

            Amazingly, Napolitano seems to think that the Canadian border is just as much a problem as the Mexican border. She claimed that “We shouldn’t go light on one and heavy on the other.” Does she imagine that hordes of Canadians are trying to cross the northern border and that violence from Canadian drug cartels is spilling across into the U.S.? In response to this and related comments, Canada’s National Post asked, “Can someone please tell us how U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got her job?” A growing number of Americans are wondering the same thing.

            Adding even more concern about Napolitano’s performance in office was her endorsement of a Homeland Security document sent to law enforcement agencies. Profiling so-called “right-wing extremists” for the agencies to keep an eye on, it managed to include Americans with mainstream and legitimate concerns—including opposition to illegal immigration.

            As Congressman John Boehner (R-OH) observed, I think Secretary Napolitano has an awful lot of explaining to do. When you look at this report, on right-wing extremists, it includes . . . about two-thirds of Americans. . . . This is . . . bizarre.”

            Truly bizarre and cause for concern is that we have a high ranking government official who ignores law violations by foreigners in the U.S. while directing law enforcement against American citizens who exercise their constitutional right to express their views. Napolitano has no business being where she is. She needs to go.