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05/18/2006
A Contentious Issue
President Bush on Immigration May 15, 2006
[Excerpts]
The issue of immigration stirs intense emotions, and in recent
weeks, Americans have seen those emotions on display .
We must begin by recognizing the problems with our
immigration system.
For decades the United States has not been in complete control of
its borders.
As a result, many who want to work in our economy have been
able to sneak across our border. And millions have stayed.
Once here, illegal immigrants live in the shadows of our society.
Many use forged documents to get jobs, and that makes it
difficult for employers to verify that the workers they hire are
legal.
Illegal immigration puts pressure on public schools and hospitals,
it strains state and local budgets and brings crime to our
communities.
These are real problems, yet we must remember that the vast
majority of illegal immigrants are decent people who work hard,
support their families, practice their faith and lead responsible
lives. They are a part of American life, but they are beyond the
reach and protection of American law.
We’re a nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We’re
also a nation of immigrants, and we must uphold that tradition,
which has strengthened our country in so many ways.
These are not contradictory goals. America can be a lawful
society and a welcoming society at the same time.
We will fix the problems created by illegal immigration, and we
will deliver a system that is secure, orderly and fair. So I support
comprehensive immigration reform that will accomplish five
clear objectives.
FIRST, the United States must secure its borders. This is a basic
responsibility of a sovereign nation. It is also an urgent
requirement of our national security.
Our objective is straightforward: The border should be open to
trade and lawful immigration and shut to illegal immigrants, as
well as criminals, drug dealers and terrorists .
So I’m announcing several immediate steps to strengthen border
enforcement during this period of transition.
One way to help during this transition is to use the National
Guard.
So in coordination with governors, up to 6,000 Guard members
will be deployed to our southern border.
The Border Patrol will remain in the lead. The Guard will assist
the Border Patrol by operating surveillance systems, analyzing
intelligence, installing fences and vehicle barriers, building patrol
roads, and providing training.
Guard units will not be involved in direct law enforcement
activities; that duty will be done by the Border Patrol.
This initial commitment of Guard members would last for a
period of one year. After that, the number of Guard forces will
be reduced as new Border Patrol agents and new technologies
come on-line.
It is important for Americans to know that we have enough
Guard forces to win the war on terror, to respond to natural
disasters and to help secure our border.
The United States is not going to militarize the southern border.
Mexico is our neighbor and our friend. We will continue to work
cooperatively to improve security on both sides of the border, to
confront common problems like drug trafficking and crime, and
to reduce illegal immigration.
Another way to help during this period of transition is through
state and local law enforcement in our border communities. So
we will increase federal funding for state and local authorities
assisting the Border Patrol on targeted enforcement missions.
We will give state and local authorities the specialized training
they need to help federal officers apprehend and detain illegal
immigrants.
State and local law enforcement officials are an important part of
our border security, and they need to be a part of our strategy to
secure our borders.
The steps I have outlined will improve our ability to catch people
entering our country illegally.
At the same time, we must ensure that every illegal immigrant
we catch crossing our southern border is returned home. More
than 85 percent of the illegal immigrants we catch crossing the
southern border are Mexicans, and most are sent back home
within 24 hours.
But when we catch illegal immigrants from other countries it is
not as easy to send them back home.
For many years, the government did not have enough space in
our detention facilities to hold them while the legal process
unfolded. So most were released back into our society and asked
to return for a court date. When the date arrived, the vast
majority did not show up.
This practice, called “catch and release,” is unacceptable. And
we will end it.
We are taking several important steps to meet this goal.
We’ve expanded the number of beds in our detention facilities,
and we will continue to add more.
We’ve expedited the legal process to cut the average deportation
time.
And we’re making it clear to foreign governments that they must
accept back their citizens who violate our immigration laws.
As a result of these actions, we’ve ended catch and release for
illegal immigrants from some countries. And I will ask Congress
for additional funding and legal authority so we can end catch
and release at the southern border once and for all.
When people know that they’ll be caught and sent home if they
enter our country illegally, they will be less likely to try to sneak
in.
SECOND, to secure our border we must create a temporary
worker program.
The reality is that there are many people on the other side of our
border who will do anything to come to America to work and
build a better life. They walk across miles of desert in the
summer heat or hide in the back of 18-wheelers to reach our
country. This creates enormous pressure on our border that walls
and patrols alone will not stop.
To secure the border effectively, we must reduce the numbers of
people trying to sneak across.
Therefore, I support a temporary worker program that would
create a legal path for foreign workers to enter our country in an
orderly way, for a limited period of time.
This program would match willing foreign workers with willing
American employers for jobs Americans are not doing.
Every worker who applies for the program would be required to
pass criminal background checks. And temporary workers must
return to their home country at the conclusion of their stay.
A temporary worker program would meet the needs of our
economy, and it would give honest immigrants a way to provide
for their families while respecting the law.
A temporary worker program would reduce the appeal of human
smugglers and make it less likely that people would risk their
lives to cross the border.
It would ease the financial burden on state and local
governments, by replacing illegal workers with lawful taxpayers.
And, above all, a temporary worker program would add to our
security by making certain we know who is in our country and
why they are here.
THIRD, we need to hold employers to account for the workers
they hire. It is against the law to hire someone who is in this
country illegally. Yet businesses often cannot verify the legal
status of their employees, because of the widespread problem of
document fraud.
Therefore, comprehensive immigration reform must include a
better system for verifying documents and work eligibility.
A key part of that system should be a new identification card for
every legal foreign worker. This card should use biometric
technology, such as digital fingerprints, to make it tamper-proof.
A tamper-proof card would help us enforce the law and leave
employers with no excuse for violating it.
And by making it harder for illegal immigrants to find work in
our country, we would discourage people from crossing the
border illegally in the first place.
FOURTH, we must face the reality that millions of illegal
immigrants are here already.
They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This
is amnesty, and I oppose it.
Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully, and it
would invite further waves of illegal immigration.
Some in this country argue that the solution is to deport every
illegal immigrant and that any proposal short of this amounts to
amnesty. I disagree.
It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people,
many with deep roots in the United States, and send them across
the border.
There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic
path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of
mass deportation. That middle ground recognizes there are
differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border
recently and someone who has worked here for many years and
has a home, a family and an otherwise clean record.
I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country
and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for
breaking the law – to pay their taxes, to learn English and to
work in a job for a number of years.
People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for
citizenship. But approval would not be automatic, and they will
have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and
followed the law.
What I have just described is not amnesty; it is a way for those
who have broken the law to pay their debt to society and
demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen.
FIFTH, we must honor the great American tradition of the
melting pot, which has made us one nation out of many peoples.
The success of our country depends upon helping newcomers
assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as
Americans. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals,
an appreciation of our history, respect for the flag we fly, and an
ability to speak and write the English language.
English is also the key to unlocking the opportunity of America.
English allows newcomers to go from picking crops to opening a
grocery, from cleaning offices to running offices, from a life of
low-paying jobs to a diploma, a career and a home of their own.
When immigrants assimilate and advance in our society, they
realize their dreams, they renew our spirit and they add to the
unity of America.
Tonight, I want to speak directly to members of the House and
the Senate. An immigration reform bill needs to be
comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be
addressed together or none of them will be solved at all.
The House has passed an immigration bill. The Senate should
act by the end of this month so we can work out the differences
between the two bills and Congress can pass a comprehensive
bill for me to sign into law.
America needs to conduct this debate on immigration in a
reasoned and respectful tone. Feelings run deep on this issue.
And as we work it out, all of us need to keep some things in
mind.
We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger or
playing on anyone’s fears or exploiting the issue of immigration
for political gain.
We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our
debates and decisions and that every human being has dignity
and value, no matter what their citizenship papers say .
Our new immigrants are just what they’ve always been: people
willing to risk everything for the dream of freedom.
And America remains what she has always been: the great hope
on the horizon, an open door to the future, a blessed and
promised land.
We honor the heritage of all who come here, no matter where
they come from, because we trust in our country’s genius for
making us all Americans, one nation under God.
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Hott Spotts will return next week.
Brian Trumbore
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