Homeland Security’s Chertoff admits border problem

The Administration, through Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, finally takes on illegal immigration[*1] :

“We have decided to stand back and take a look at how we address the problem and solve it once and for all,” Chertoff said at a breakfast meeting with reporters. “The American public is rightly distressed about a situation in which they feel we do not have the proper control over our borders.”

The unusually blunt assessment by the nation’s top immigration official follows border-related emergency declarations by the governors of New Mexico and Arizona, who cited a surge in smuggling and violence associated with the flow of illegal immigrants.