Speech #1100047717

Mr. President. it is obvious to most Americans our immigration system is broken. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States today. and hundreds of thousands are arriving each year. In America today. unscrupulous employers hire undocumented immigrants because they can pay them less than American workers and force them to work in conditions that Americans would not tolerate. Employers can do this with impunity because our Government doesnt enforce immigration laws that prohibit hiring undocumented immigrants. Immigration is a complicated issue that ignites strong passions. Some would rather avoid this issue because it is so sensitive. But Congress has an obligation to fix our broken immigration system. We need a comprehensive approach. one that is tough but fair. We need. first. to improve border security by increasing manpower and deploying new technology. We need to enforce the law against employers who are hiring millions of undocumented workers. We need a realistic approach to the 12 million undocumented workers who live and work in our country. I commend our majority leader. Senator REID of Nevada. He is not afraid of tackling tough issues. including immigration reform. He knows it is an important national priority. Last week. Senator REID introduced immigration reform legislation that the Senate will begin debating this week. Senator REID did a reasonable thing. He said we should begin the debate where it ended last year. with the bipartisan KennedyMcCain.