Thursday, June 30, 2005

A survey? That's news to me.

"Illegal immigration increased as a result of President Bush's proposed immigration reform," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, an organization which opposes Bush's immigration plan. It obtained the survey results through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), also critical of the proposal, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff demanding to know why the January 2004 poll was conducted and why it was not previously disclosed.

An official of the Department of Homeland Security rejected the group's assertions, saying they were based on a survey that was not completed.

"I don't know how they can draw any conclusions based on inconclusive findings and information taken out of context," said Kristi Clemens, an assistant commissioner in customs and border protection.

The survey was originally scheduled to last six months but ended after a few weeks. Clemens said its existence was leaked to the news media, which, she said, "compromised" the poll and prompted the office to end it. She said the agency had designed the questions "to predict any trends" so it could head off any potential problems.

Yeah, sure. Sounds to me like the government just didn't want to disclose the survey information. Typical.

Immigration Plan May Have Gone Awry
By Brian Faler, Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, June 30, 2005

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