How can we change that system? I think we need to move toward some form of identification that is reliable so the person carrying the card who is here in a legal and temporary employment status can prove their identity to the employer. so that the system is able to police itself more. We also need to deal with the reality of 12 million undocumented people currently here. I know all about these folks because almost 90 percent of our casework in our Senate office deals with immigration. I have met many of them and their families. We need to find a fair way to hold them accountable. to make certain that over a period of time they can earn their way into legal status. They have to have a job and no criminal record. they have to pay a fine. pay their taxes. learn English. whatever it takes. to make sure that over a period of time. it is clear they have every intention to be a citizen of this country. and a good one. In that way. they can earn their way. over many years. into a position of citizenship or permanent legal status. This country is great because of the immigrants who came here. My mother was one of them. I am very proud of that fact and happy to serve in a State that would elect me and in a State that has so many immigrants who can tell the same story I have to tell. I think the immigrant spirit is something that has made America a unique country. I think of people who. in their foreign lands. get up one day and say: We are not going to take it anymore. We are coming to America. We have a better chance. That is the kind of getupandgo. we like to see that has made this a much better country. I think we can capture that spirit in real. comprehensive immigration reform and avoid abuses such as those I have just described with the H lB program and at the end of the day have a program and a law supported by both political parties that will really move us forward as a Nation.
Keywords matched
immigrants immigrant immigration undocumented