When Governor Jan Brewer signed Arizona’s tough new Immigration law, on April 23, fierce debate erupted nation wide. Supporters of the law blamed the federal government for failing to enact comprehensive Immigration Reform. Critics warned of state police stopping and searching people without cause on the basis of racial profiling. In response to the outcry, the legislature and the Governor agreed to make changes in the law. The revision, which explicitly bans racial profiling, allows officers to inquire about immigration status only of people they stop, detain or arrest in enforcing existing state law. However, it also includes civil violations of municipal codes as grounds to check identification papers which expands their authority.

Most of the public’s attention on illegal immigration has been focused on our southern border with Mexico. Building the physical wall and increasing border patrols grabs the headlines. We have heard very little about the other border in the North and border “sweeps” that reach miles into the United States. They usually take place on trains and buses. The federal government is authorized under the United States Customs and Border Protection to stop and interrogate anyone without cause at places where they enter and leave the country at a “reasonable distance” from the border. These transportation checks have grown rapidly since 9/11 with funding from Congressional antiterrorism spending. There are about 6000 arrests a year along the northern border.

In Rochester, New York, the Border Patrol station opened in 2004 with four agents to screen passengers on the new ferry from Toronto, Canada. The ferry went bankrupt but the patrol continued their work on buses and trains.They arrested 2,788 passengers from October 2005 through September 2009. Its agents have one of the highest arrest rates on the northern border – 1,040 people in the 2009 year, 95 percent from buses and trains. It is worth noting that in the Rochester area, the border is miles away in the middle of Lake Ontario.

Congress has more than doubled the northern patrol since 2006, now at 2,212 agents with plans to double it again. There are 55 stations between Maine and Washington state along the northern border. Thomas Pocorobba Jr., the agent in charge of the Rochester station, said “Our mission is to defend the homeland, against terrorists and terrorist weapons. We still do our traditional mission, which is to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.” In contrast, Cary M Jensen, director of international services for the University of Rochester described former students, scholars and parents who have been questioned and jailed by the border patrol because their legal status was not recognized. He said, “It’s turned into a police state on the northern border. It’s essentially become an internal document check.”

Border patrol officials say that answering questions is voluntary, part of “a consensual and non-intrusive conversation.” Yet, passengers often report that they were not told that they could remain silent. A Chicago woman, a citizen of Chinese-American descent, was traveling on a train to Poughkeepsie, New York with her boyfriend for her graduation from Vassar College. She described their encounter with the border patrol agents. Her Mexican boyfriend was sleeping when an agent started to question him. “At least in Arizona, you have to be doing something wrong to be stopped,” she said. “Here, you’re sitting on the train asleep and if you don’t look like a U.S. citizen, it’s ‘Wake up!”

On August 20, John Morton, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent a policy memorandum that signaled a major emphasis in enforcement, aimed at catching immigrants who have been convicted of crimes or pose a national security threat. This shifted the focus from immigrants who did not have legal status but who have active applications in the system to become legal residents. The memo encourages ICE officers to use their authority to cancel deportation proceedings for those people. For example, the courts have reported at least 17,000 cases that involved immigrants married to U.S. citizens who were very likely to win legal status. There was a backlog of 247,922 cases this past June with an average waiting time of 459 days. Immigration lawyers report they are currently waiting as long as two years to get a hearing date for their clients.

Helen Harnett, policy director for the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago, said that the new policy “is a pretty basic common-sense thing to do.” Meg McCarthy, the director of the center agreed. “This is for people who do have a path to legalize their status. This does not create a new path to legalization for anyone.” Some Republican lawmakers had a different view. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, warned, “Actions like this demoralize ICE agents who are trying to do their job and enforce the law.” However, ICE officials spoke in favor of the new direction. “Beth Gibson, assistant deputy director of ICE said, “This is not a backdoor amnesty. It is really about efficient use of docket space and smart use of everybody’s scarce resources.”

ICE has deported a record number of 167,000 immigrants with criminal convictions this past year. At the same time, there has been a halt in the deportation of students who were brought to the United States as children without papers – a group the Obama administration favors for legalization. In addition to ICE, another agency, Citizenship and Immigration Services, is in charge of approving applications for immigration documents. When one considers the complex issues surrounding immigration, both legal and illegal, it is clear that the need for comprehensive federal immigration reform is urgent

Joyce S. Anderson is the author of “Courage in High Heels,” “Flaw in the Tapestry,” “If Winter Comes” and “The Mermaids Singing.” She can be reached at JSAWrite@aol.com.