Speech #1100051667

With these resources in 2006. ICE. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. removed 187.513 illegal aliens from the countrya record for the agency and a 10percent increase over the number of removals during the prior fiscal year. If you do the math. though. that works out to roughly 28 illegal aliens deported per DRO employee per year or 35 deportations per law enforcement officer per year. At that pace. if we shut down the border to a point at which no one crosses illegally. and successfully end 100 percent of the visa overstays and double the number of DRO agents. then it will take us 25 to 30 years to deport the estimated 11 million to 13 million illegal aliens who are currently in the United States. As a matter of national security. we cant afford to wait 30 years to know who is in our country illegally. For the sake of our national security and our Nations future. we need to solve the immigration problems facing our Nation now. The comprehensive bill before the Senate goes a long way toward enabling us to fix our immigration system and the problem of illegal immigration. I might point out that people are not opposed to immigration. they are opposed to illegal immigration. and we need to get the legal system to work and fix the problems in it. I believe we need a multifaceted approach to the complex immigration problem we are facing. and the compromise bill before the Senate now will enable us to take significant strides toward fixing the problem. That said. there are certain aspects of the bill I wish to change. I look forward to the opportunity to do so through the amendment process and to see whether I can support the final product. With respect to solving the immigration problem. we must first and foremost secure the border. and this bill appears to do that. Section 1 of the bill ensures that we dont repeat one of the biggest mistakes of the 1986 amnesty of implementing immigration reforms without increasing border and worksite enforcement. The triggers in section 1 require the DHS Secretary to certify in writing the following border and worksite enforcement measures are funded. in place. and in operation beforebeforeinitiating a guest worker program or issuing Z visas to current undocumented immigrants. These are the triggers: 18.000 Border Patrol hired:. construction of 200 miles of vehicle barriers and 370 miles of fencing. 70 groundbased radar and camera towers along the southern border. the deployment of 4 unmanned aerial vehicles and supporting systems. ending catch and release. resources to detain up to 27.500 aliens per day on an annual basis: the use of secure and effective identification tools to prevent unauthorized work. and the receiving. processing. and adjudication of applications for Z status. I go through the details because the details really matter in this bill. In addition. the bill authorizes enhanced border enforcement. including a national strategy for border security. 14.000 new Border Patrol agents by 2012. doubling the current force: 2.500 new Customs and Border Protection officers by 2012. 3.000 new DHS investigators by 2010: 24.000 new detention beds by 2010: enhanced surveillance. using unmanned aerial vehicles. as I mentioned. cameras. sensors. satellites. and other technologies. That is not enough for just taking care of the border. We also have to go to the workplace.