Speech #1090135663

That is a pretty stunning number. Only 30 percent coming into our country will have their entry evaluated. their skill level or their education level. whereas 70 percent will come into our country for other reasons. For example. if a young man came to our country under the new guest worker program that would be made law today. and that guest worker program would allow him to come into the country to file for a green card the first day he arrived here. within 5 years from that he can apply for and obtain as of right his citizenship in the United States. That will happen under the bill. Within 6 years. the person could possibly be a citizen of the United States coming in under a program which the bill says is a temporary guest worker provision. They say it is a temporary guest worker section of the bill. It has big letters. "Temporary Guest Worker." But on the first day they get here. their employer can ask for a green card. A green card means you have legal permanent residence. Within 5 years of getting that card. they can become a citizen. A legal permanent resident means if you never seek citizenship you can stay in the country once you get that green card for the rest of your life. What I am saying is. under this provision a young man can come inand he is 20 years of age. If he works 5 or 6 years. he becomes a citizen. Now he is 30. and he has a 50yearold brother. a 60yearold. a 70yearold mother and father. They can be brought into this country under chain migration. whether or not they have any skills or any education that would be relevant to their success in the United States of America. Think about this: Let us say they are both from Honduras. Let us say this is a young man who was valedictorian of his school in Honduras. who had a chance to take an English course and took English and learned it well. was able to go to a technical college and became skilled in electricity. and he applies at age 21 to come to the United States. Would he not have the advantage over a 50yearold brother or a 70yearold mother of someone who is already here when those people who may or may not have any skills which would be beneficial to the country could likely became a drain on the Nations resources? That is how we have 70 percent of the people coming into our country under the new provision who are supposed to be in a comprehensive reform of the immigration system? That does not make sense. We need to focus more on providing opportunities for people to enter our country who have the greatest potential to succeed. It is perfectly proper and legitimate for us to ask: What is the worker status. the wages that are being paid in a given area. and do we have a shortage? In my view. the Department of Labor should not allow surging immigration when we have certain fields in the United States where there are more workers than there are jobs and you let a bunch of people come in from out of the country to take what few jobs there are leaving Americans unemployed. We need to consider all of those things. But. fundamentally. when you make a choice between two individuals--a younger person. a person who speaks English. a person who has skillswho is going to be far more successful?