It is going to take a little bit of time. But that is not the same thing as saying. as the Senator from Colorado has said. that somehow we are going with an enforcementonly approach. I support a comprehensive immigration reform plan that is built on a foundation of border security. that says we need to have worksite verification. that we need to have a secure identification card so that employers can determine whether in fact a person is eligible to work. I believe we ought to have sanctions against employers who cheat. I believe we ought to have a temporary worker program. not like the proposed guest worker program in this underlying bill. and that will be the subject for future amendments. The message we need to send the American people is that we are actually serious about making this proposed comprehensive immigration reform system work. If we adopt the amendment of the Senator from Colorado. it will send a message that we are not serious about making sure we have the infrastructure and the people and the systems and the cards in place that will actually make this comprehensive reform work. The American people have already been burned once very badly when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform. In 1986. when President Ronald Reagan signed an amnesty. the tradeoff was supposed to be worksite verification and employer sanctions for employers who cheat. But the Federal Government never did what it was supposed to do by providing the means for employers to actually make that determination in a way that had some integrity.
Keywords matched
border security immigration