Speech #1090132370

That is a straw man. an easy argument to push aside and defeat. That is not the practical alternative at all. The practical alternative to rushing toward an amnesty program is to do meaningful things with regard to enforcement and other measures in the country that on their own can decrease the illegal alien population in this country over time. Let me mention six items in particular: Secure the borders through Border Patrol agents. increase fencing. substantially increase detention space and do that before we do anything else. Some provisions are in this bill. but it is not being done before we move on to other aspects of the bill. No. 2: Implement strong and serious worksite enforcement measures and. again. do that before other aspects of the bill are implemented. No. 3: Eliminate document fraud through the use of biometrics. immigration documents. and secure Social Security cards. No. 4: Reform existing laws to reduce the incentive to work illegally by providing the IRS with increased resources to investigate and sanction both employers and illegal aliens for submitting fraudulent tax returns. requiring the Social Security Administration to share information with DHS when no match letters are sent to employers. and barring illegal workers from counting work performed illegally toward Social Security. No. 5: Encourage State and local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws themselves by giving them authority and by requiring the Feds to reimburse them for expenses directly related to that enforcement. and enhancing coordination and information sharing between the State and local law enforcement and Federal immigration authorities. No. 6: Provide the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice with the necessary resources to perform their jobs. Madam President. these six things. without an amnesty program. would. in fact. lower the population of illegal aliens in this country over time. Why would it lower it? Because it would remove the incentives for those folks to stay here.