Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 6061. the Secure Fence Act. I ask my colleagues: If you were considering illegally immigrating to a country. which would be more likely to keep you out: a fence. or knowing that it would be impossible to get a job in that country? The answer is obvious. You cant tunnel around unemployment. So why wont my Republican colleagues support comprehensive immigration reform that would provide a stable. legal workforce and harshly punish employers who hire illegal immigrants? Maybe they dont want to admit that we need some immigrant labor to make this country run. Maybe they dont want to offend their corporate backers who want to continue exploiting illegal immigrants by paying them low wages without benefits. Maybe they think the image of a fence will play well to their base in the upcoming election. Maybe they think it will distract voters from the fact that they havent done anything to fix our dysfunctional immigration system. Whatever the ploy. I refuse to go along.
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immigrating illegal immigrants immigrant immigration