Speech #1100051653

The answer to that is. categorically. yes. we have an enormous problem. We have a border which is porous. We have anarchy in the way the immigration system works at the present time. People are complaining that it is amnesty. In my legal judgment. it is not. It is not amnesty because people have to pay a fine. people have to have a job. people have to contribute to our society. people have to pay their taxes. people have to learn English. people go to the very end of the line. are not even considered until they have been here 8 years. and it may take as long as 13 years. That is not amnesty. But the fact is that these 12 million undocumented immigrants are going to be here whether we pass this bill or not. The only difference will be whether they will be here in a way where we regulate their presence here. If we have a registration system. we will have an opportunity to identify people who ought to be deported. It is not practical to deport 12 million people. But when we cull through the list. we may find those who should be deported. if in a practical sense they can be deported. To deport someone. you have to take them into custody. Then you have to have detention facilities. and then you have to have judicial proceedings. It is a total impossibility to think of deporting 12 million undocumented immigrants. but at least we would move toward regulation. As part of the comprehensive system. we are structuring border security as outlined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Michael Chertoff. The entire border would be covered either by fences. by obstacles. or by drones. So the entire border would be covered. fences covering the populated areas. It is not possible to structure border security so that no one slips through. but lby moving toward employer verification. we will be eliminating the magnet. Until we have a system to positively identify who is legal and who is illegal. you cannot impose tough sanctions on the employers. But now that we have that system. those tough sanctions can be imposed. and that has the objective. a realistic objective. of eliminating the magnet. There is great distrust. and understandably so. as to whether the enforcement procedures will occur. Bear in mind that there are preconditions to having the guest worker program or the processing of the 12 million undocumented immigrants. I think it is fair criticism that since the 1986 legislation. no administration. Democratic or Republican. has enforced the law.