White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) Director Cecilia Muñoz, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Janet Napolitano, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Alan Bersin, and Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West met with law enforcement officials from across the country to discuss the need for commonsense reform to fix the nation’s broken immigration system. DPC Director Muñoz outlined the principles at the heart of the president’s proposal: continuing to strengthen border security, cracking down on employers that hire undocumented workers, creating a pathway to earned citizenship, and streamlining our legal immigration system. Secretary Napolitano highlighted the department’s work with local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws while securing our borders. She noted that in order to continue making progress, immigration laws need to be modernized.

Secretary Napolitano highlighted the significant progress that has been made as the administration has dedicated historic levels of personnel, technology, and resources to the southwest border over the last four years. She also emphasized that this administration has undertaken an unprecedented effort to transform our nation's immigration enforcement systems into one that focuses on public safety, border security, and the integrity of the immigration system. Attempts to cross the border illegally totaled nearly 365,000 nationwide in FY 2012. This represents a nearly 50 percent decrease since FY 2008 and a 78 percent decrease from their peak in FY 2000. In addition, from FY 2009 to 2012, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized 71 percent more currency, 39 percent more drugs, and 189 percent more weapons along the southwest border as compared to FY 2005 to 2008.

The secretary made it clear that commonsense immigration reform is the single best step we can take to continue to enhance border security. This, she noted, enables our officers and agents along the border to spend the bulk of their time focused on public safety and national security threats. Law enforcement officials agreed that immigration reform will strengthen trust between communities and law enforcement agencies, and allow officers to focus resources on public safety.

From February 4-5, Secretary Napolitano traveled to San Diego, California and Clint and El Paso, Texas to inspect border security operations at the southwest border, meet with state and local stakeholders, and discuss the department’s ongoing efforts to secure the border while facilitating lawful travel and trade.