Speech #1090129163

By contrast. between 2000 and 2050. Mexicos median age. according to U.N. projections. will increase by 20 years. leaving half the population over 42. Meanwhile. the median American age in the year 2050 is expected to be 39.7." Thus. ultimately illegal immigration from Mexico into the U.S. is not good for either Mexico or the United States. According to the Associated Press. President Fox has characterized the House immigration bill as. quote. stupid. To his credit. the same AP story quoted President Fox as acknowledging that his government must "generate opportunities here in Mexico." However. it is the responsibility of the United States Government to control our own borders and to take action to reduce the pull factors which draw people to the United States. We must demagnetize the attraction of illegal employment In the U.S. Unfortunately. our track record here reflects a failure of government policy on our side of the border. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. IRCA. or SimpsonMazzoli. for the first time imposed sanctions on employers for the hiring of those ineligible to work in the United States. Yet since the passage of that bill. administrations of both political parties have failed to enforce the law. The fact that there were only three cases last year. three. of a notice to file a prosecution for the unlawful hiring of illegal aliens is utterly indefensible. There must be a will to enforce the law. I wish to recount what in retrospect was the death knell to an effective regime of employer sanctions.