Speech #1090120312

These are not easy. Nobody is suggesting they are easy. But the question of immigration reforn is an issue that goes to the heart of who we are as a people and that defines us as a nation. It is an issue that has historically divided us. revealing that sometimes humanity and courage are side by side with isolationism and fear and sometimes. sadly. even bigotry. We may be divided today. as we try to figure out how we are going to go forward here. but I dont think there is any Senator who disagrees about our past and our heritage as a nation of immigrants. of people who have come to the United States in search of a better life and freedom. of opportunity. and who want to have their voices heard. We also all agree that our current immigration system is broken. We agree that more resources have to be sent to the border in order to strengthen enforcement. to add more Border Patrol agents. and invest in new technologies. I spent a number of years as a prosecutor. I didnt have to deal directly with immigration at the county level. but I certainly saw what a lack of resources did. in a prosecutors office. to our ability to pick the crimes that we were prosecuting. our ability to prioritize certain kinds of crimes to move through the judicial system. The fact is. had It not been back in those days for an extraordinary infusion of Federal dollars through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. we never could have done half the things we didlike priority prosecution so you could take any felony from arrest to conviction in 90 days. Federal money made that difference. where we could have a rape counseling unit. one of the first in the country.