We knew that there was no way that we could put a wall across that border and keep those poor unfortunates out of this country. We have seen the result of our failure to act then. I believe had we acted then with employer sanctions. as we have acted now. that disincentive would have been such that the illegal alien population would not hate grown as it has grown now. I do not mean to say that I had a crystal ball. but I forecast back in 1971 and 1972 that the numbers would grow and grow unless we took action. As one who has always sought to be humane to all people. I recognized that while employer sanctions might have been offensive to some people. they would have the effect of saying to the poor unfortunate. "Look. dont think you are going to be able to come here without being found out." and to the employer that. "You will not be able to induce these people to come here illegally." We failed to act then. and our failure to act has resulted in a continued growth of the undocumented population.
Keywords matched
undocumented illegal alien