Speech #1090131531

Mr. President. today the Senate resumes the debate on immigration reform with S. 2611. featuring the compromise that was crafted by a group of Senators shortly before our last recess. This legislation will affect millions of Individuals and will alter Americas social and economic landscape. According to the Pew Hispanic Center. between 11 and 12 million individuals reside in the U.S. unlawfully. and illegal immigrants account for about 4.9 percent of the U.S. labor force. According to the Center for American Progress. the total cost to "round up" every illegal immigrant within the United States would be $206 to $230 billion over 5 years. a plan that neither is fiscally sound nor accomplishes the goal of bringing the countrys undocumented workers out of the underground economy. In 1986. President Ronald Reagan signed into law a bill that instantly conferred legal resident status to millions of illegal immigrants. However. the 1986 bill had several flaws. Most importantly. the legislation did not include comprehensive immigration reform that dealt with all facets of the immigration problem. Thus. it failed to meet American businesss demand for increased legal immigration. We cannot afford to repeat the mistake of 20 years ago. Nor can we simply confer legal status to presently undocumented workers without asking for something in return. Amnesty. by definition. is a pardon or a free pass granted to a large group of individuals without any consideration in return for the amnesty granted. Requiring earned adjustments. as our bill does. is not amnesty. it is a system that enables undocumented immigrants. who are neither criminals nor terrorists. to earn legal status and to remain productive members of our society. The 1986 immigration bills failure to create a guest worker program to meet the needs of our employers meant the market would step in to accommodate those needs. Market forces created. de facto. an "illegal guest worker" program. whereby undocumented workers would enter the country Illegally in order to obtain work. Employers benefited under this system because they obtained workers. Undocumented workers benefited because they secured jobs. But an "illegal guest worker program" Is unacceptable. As the economic motivation to come to the U.S. remains strong. we should provide the avenues and incentives for U.S. employers and foreign workers to only use legal channels. The bill before the U.S. Senate makes it attractive for immigrants to use existing legal channels rather than socalled coyotes who illegally traffic foreign workers into the United States. The compromise creates an earned adjustment program for longertermed undocumented individuals who have deep roots within their communities. It allows for individuals who have been in the United States 5 years before April 5. 2001. to come out of the shadows and legalize their status. However. unlike the 1986 amnesty. which only had minimum requirements. our compromise has strict. objective requirements that must be met in order for the individual to legalize and adjust his status. The individual must undergo security and criminal background checks. must not be determined to be a criminal or a national security threat and deemed inadmissible. must have worked a minimum of 3 of the 5 years prior to April 5. 2001. and must continue to work for a minimum of 6 years after the date of enactment to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident. Most importantly. these individuals are required to "get in the back of the line" and cannot adjust their status to lawful permanent resident and get a green card until those waiting in the queue have their opportunity to receive their green card. The individual must also pay a fine of $2.000. pay all applicable back taxes as well as remain current liability. and must demonstrate knowledge of the English language and an understanding of American history and Government. The compromise also creates a new status called "Mandatory Departure and Reentry" for individuals who have been in the U.S. and employed less than 5 years but before January 7. 2004. These individuals must come out of the shadows during the 3year period after the date of enactment and must leave the U.S. and return to the country in a legal status. The crux of these provisions is that it encourages undocumented Individuals to leave the United States and surrender their status as soon as possible. without separating families and without disrupting businesses. If departure occurs within the first year. the individual is not subject to any fines. If departure occurs within the second year. there is a $2.000 penalty. and if departure occurs within the last year of the program. the alien must pay a fine of $3.000. Individuals who entered after January 7. 2004. must immediately depart the U.S. and apply through the new visa category created in my bill. the new H2C program for temporary workers. The total number of H2C visas available will be 325.000 visas and will adjust. either up or down. according to the market demands. These individuals have lived in the shadows and outside the protection of law for too long. As such. out of fear and desperation. many are abused and discriminated against at the workplace and are afraid to come forward. The compromise achieves the goal by allowing these individuals to come forward. Another flaw of the 1986 amnesty was that it did not provide for realistic enforcement. S. 2611 strengthens enforcement of immigration laws and provides the necessary resources for effective border and interior enforcement. S. 2611 provides employers with the tools they need to ensure their workforce is authorized. coupled with a commitment to provide the resources necessary to abate the flow of illegal immigrants into this country in the future. The 1986 bill failed because it did not address our Nations economic need for future guest workers. Immigration reform cannot only deal with the current illegal population or just provide tough border enforcement measures. but must also provide avenues for future immigrants to come to this country to labor and to enjoy the fruits of U.S. citizenship. We must require illegal aliens already in the U.S. to come forward. register. and undergo the necessary background checks to ensure our national security. and we must provide a legal avenue for future immigration to meet the future needs of our economy. As we return to the immigration debate. let us not repeat the mistakes of the past but build upon the growing consensus in America to allow immigration to help shape our future.