Speech #1100055649

We are trying to deal with a key element of the program and that deals with the families who are here. It would keep them in the shadows. where employers abuse and underpay them. That hurts the immigrants. but it hurts American workers. too. by depressing wages. That is what we see that is out there now. with undocumentedthe 12 million with a work record which Is even better. in terms of percentages. than native born Americans. people who are willing to work and want to work hard. But there is exploitation of those individuals because every one of them knows all the boss has to do is go down and call the immigration service. Work 80 hours a week. Well. I dont want to. Well. Im going to call the immigration service and youre deported. They do that. That individuals are exploited in this country is well understood. We are trying to free ourselves from that kind of a condition. But the Cornyn amendment would still make vast numbers of these families ineligible for our programs. keep them in the shadows where employers abuse and underpay them. which hurts the immigrants but it hurts American workers. too. by depressing their wages. The Cornyn amendment does this by classifying an array of common garden variety immigration offenses as crimes that would make them ineligible for the program. For example. the Cornyn amendment says that if you come here. have been ordered out of the country by immigration authorities. but if you fail to leave or you come back. you are ineligible. That is exactly what has been going on with our broken immigration system. people have come to work. employers want them to come. and they have benefitted our economy. Immigration officers may find them and order them home. but our employers beg them to come back. Our broken borders make that possible. Cornyn says: If you have used false identification. you may be found inadmissible and may be deported. But in our broken system. the people who have wanted to work have been forced to use the false identification. That is the reality of where we are today.