Speech #1090120143

Mr. President. I come to the floor today to enter the debate on comprehensive immigration reform. It is a debate that will touch on the basic questions of morality. the law. and what it means to be an American. I know that this debate evokes strong passions on all sides. The recent peaceful but passionate protests that we saw all across the country500.000 in Los Angeles and 100.000 in my hometown of Chicagoare a testament to this fact. as are the concerns of millions of Americans about the security of our borders. But I believe we can work together to pass immigration reform in a way that unites the people in this country. not in a way that divides us by playing on our worst instincts and fears. Like millions of Americans. the immigrant story is also my story. My father came here from Kenya. and I represent a State where vibrant immigrant communities ranging from Mexican to Polish to Irish enrich our cities and neighborhoods. So I understand the allure of freedom and opportunity that fuels the dream of a life in the United States. But I also understand the need to fix a broken system. When Congress last addressed this issue comprehensively in 1986. there were approximately 4 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. That number had grown substantially when Congress again addressed the issue in 1996. Today. it is estimated that there are more than 11 million undocumented aliens living in our country. The American people are a welcoming and generous people. But those who enter our country illegally. and those who employ them. disrespect the rule of law. And because we live in an age where terrorists are challenging our borders. we simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected. undocumented. and unchecked. Americans are right to demand better border security and better enforcement of the immigration laws. The bill the Judiciary Committee has passed would clearly strengthen enforcement. I will repeat that. because those arguing against the Judiciary Committee bill contrast that bill with a strong enforcement bill. The bill the Judiciary Committee passed clearly strengthens enforcement. To begin with. the agencies charged with border security would receive new technology. new facilities. and more people to stop. process. and deport illegal immigrants. But while security might start at our borders. it doesnt end there. Millions of undocumented immigrants live and work here without our knowing their identity or their background. We need to strike a workable bargain with them. They have to acknowledge that breaking our immigration laws was wrong. They must pay a penalty. and abide by all of our laws going forward. They must earn the right to stay over a 6year period. and then they must wait another 5 years as legal permanent residents before they become citizens. But in exchange for accepting those penalties. we must allow undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and step on a path toward full participation in our society. In fact. I will not support any bill that does not provide this earned path to citizenship for the undocumented populationnot just for humanitarian reasons. not just because these people. having broken the law. did so for the best of motives. to try and provide a better life for their children and their grandchildren. but also because this is the only practical way we can get a handle on the population that is within our borders right now. To keep from having to go through this difficult process again in the future. we must also replace the flow of undocumented immigrants coming to work here with a new flow of guestworkers. Illegal immigration is bad for illegal immigrants and bad for the workers against whom they compete. Replacing the flood of illegals with a regulated stream of legal immigrants who enter the United States after background checks and who are provided labor rights would enhance our security. raise wages. and improve working conditions for all Americans. But I fully appreciate that we cannot create a new guestworker program without making it as close to impossible as we can for illegal workers to find employment. We do not need new guestworkers plus future undocumented immigrants. We need guestworkers instead of undocumented immigrants. Toward that end. American employers need to take responsibility. Too often illegal immigrants are lured here with a promise of a job. only to receive unconscionably low wages. In the interest of cheap labor. unscrupulous employers look the other way when employees provide fraudulent U.S. citizenship documents. Some actually call and place orders for undocumented workers because they dont want to pay minimum wages to American workers in surrounding communities. These acts hurt both American workers and immigrants whose sole aim is to work hard and get ahead. That is why we need a simple. foolproof. and mandatory mechanism for all employers to check the legal status of new hires. Such a mechanism is in the Judiciary Committee bill.