Speech #1100051636

For me. it is a shining example of the power of the American dream. a place that launched millions down their own road to success. As Americans listen to this debate. I hope they understand and are honest with themselveswhether their family was part of the men and women who made the voyage on the Mayflower or part of the millions who stepped off of Ellis Island or part of those who were brought to this Nation against their will or. if like my own parents. they came to this country fleeing tyranny and searching for freedomwe all have a connection to immigration. America has a proud tradition as a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. History is replete with examples of the United States of America being a welcoming Nation. But. unfortunately. very often the public dialog through the years has been less than welcoming. Over the decades. the influx of immigrants of various ethnicities has caused concerns and. in many cases. heated comments against such immigrants to our Nation. In some cases. there were even laws enacted to limit or ban certain ethnic groups from being able to come to the land of opportunity. Lets remember some of this history so we do not repeat it again in these debates. Before the American Revolution. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin wrote of the influx of German immigrants to Philadelphia: I Those who come hither are generally the most stupid of their own nation. Henry J. Gardner. the Governor of Massachusetts in the middle of the 19th century. saw the Irish as a "horde of foreign barbarians. In 1882. Congress enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act. which made it nearly impossible for additional Chinese to enter America. The law was not repealed until 1943. in the middle of World War 11. when the United States and China were allies against Japan. In the early 1900s. H.G. Wells. a British novelist. stated that the arrival of Eastern Europeans. Jews. and Italians would cause a "huge dilution of the American people with profoundly ignorant foreign peasants." Congressman Albert Johnson. coauthor of the JohnsonReed Immigration Act of 1924. which severely restricted immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. and entirely prohibited East Asians and Asian Indians. stated that: Our capacity to maintain our cherished institutions stands diluted by a stream of alien blood. with all its inherited misconceptions respecting the relationships of the governing power to governed. . . . The day of unalloyed welcome to all peoples. the day of indiscriminate acceptance of all races. has definitely ended. Finallyto give you a sense of some of these things that have been part of our pasta 1925 report of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce stated that Mexicans are suitable for agricultural work "due to their crouching and bending habits . . . . while the white is physically unable to adapt himself to them." That was in 1925. These are just a few statements from the past that have taken issue with and criticized the relatives and forefathers of various segments of our Nations population today. We must all remember that just in the last Congress the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4437. better known as the Sensenbrenner bill. Beyond the heated rhetoric that existed during the debate on that legislation. the bill itself was shortsighted and even more mean spirited and would have made felons out of anyone who was here in an undocumented status. That bill would have also criminalized citizens of the United States through a much broader definition of smuggling that would have allowed the Government to prosecute almost any American who had regular contact with undocumented immigrants. Luckily. that did not pass. But today we continue to hear across the landscape of the country hateful rhetoric used to polarize and divide our country on this issue. But we must never allow ourselves to buy into the rhetoric. We must never subscribe to the policies of fear and division. driven by xenophobia. nativism. and racism. The responsibility is on all of usnot just on Members of Congress. but everyone in this Nation. We must reject the rhetoric of hatred. division. and polarization. We must demand a comprehensive immigration policy that does not denigrate or demonize. but is tough. smart. fair. and humane. However. on this issue. we must be completely honest with ourselves. Our countrys immigration system is unarguably broken. In light of these failures. we must enact tough. smart. and comprehensive immigration reform that reflects current economic and social realities. respects the core values. I hope. of family unity and fundamental fairness. and upholds our tradition as a nation of immigrants. In the absence of Federal legislation. what is happening is many local governments in my State of New Jersey and. for that matter. across the Nation are passing ordinances to address issues surrounding undocumented immigration in their communities. Unfortunately. many of these ordinances violate constitutional equal protection guarantees and create divisions in communities that did not exist. In addition to the moral imperative. our society would greatly benefit economically if we enacted comprehensive immigration reform. Such reform would allow undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and fully pay their taxes. ensuring accurate census counts. which translates into equitable funding levels for programs and schools. Additionally. we can reduce law enforcement demands since the need for day laborers. forged documents. and drivers licenses. along with the use of exploitation and human trafficking would largely be shut dlown. As to those who dont come forward when such an opportunity is presented. we would be focused on asking: Why are they not coming forward? We would be able to determine who is here to pursue the American dream versus who is here to destroy it. We need to aggressively curtail unauthorized crossings at the border. protect both undocumented immigrants and American workers from corporations exploiting undocumented labor. and provide a pathway for immigrants to earnand I repeat: earnpermanent residency in order to ensure our immigration system is safe. legal. orderly. and fair to all. Our goal should be neither open borders nor closed borders but smart borders. The specter of terrorism in a postSeptember 11 world creates an even greater imperative for us to succeed in this endeavor.