Speech #1040145824

Mr. President. I want to take this opportunity to call the attention of my colleagues in Congress to a compelling example of the kind of innovation we are seeing today by the Clinton administration in addressing the problem of illegal immigration. Stronger border enforcement is part of the answer. But is obviously not the only answer. The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that 40 to 50 percent of the illegal aliens currently in the United States entered the country legally on visitors visas and other temporary visas. then remained illegally in the country after their visas expired. The overriding challenge we face is to remove the magnet of Jobs which encourage so many people to come to the United States illegally or to remain here illegally. A key element in this strategy must be to assist employers to abide by the law and to hire only those persons entitled to work in the United States. Clearly. the INS is making progress. Last week. the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard announced that an INS program in Dallas has won one of this years Innovations in American Government Awards for its success in encouraging employers to remove illegal aliens from their rolls and hiring U.S. workers in their place. This kind of innovation combats illegal immigration. helps employers. and provides good jobs for American workers. I am hopeful that as Congress considers immigration reform legislation in the coming weeks. we can encourage more new approaches like this to combating illegal immigration. Mr. President.