What would a better approach be? First. I think it Is clear the American people do not believe there is a commitment to border security. I believe there is much more progress in this area than is known. We know the catchandrelease program is virtually shut down. It used to be that an alien coming into our country illegally who was not from Mexico but was from farther down in Central or South America would not be able to be apprehended and deported because there were no detention facilities that could hold them. so they were caught and released. Today. that program has been virtually shut off. So we have made progress. Is it enough? Absolutely not. But we must have a renewed commitment to border security. and I think it is clear the American people believe we must show there is a commitment as a prerequisite to addressing the other problems. Today. I suggest we might look at a fresh approach which has the commitment that was made by the President 2 weeks ago to border security. the money commitment for the barriers. and the commitment to following through on those border security measures. That would be one step we could take that I believe would have universal agreement. There is no one who has called me about this bill who has not said the absolute first requirement is border security. The second thing I think we should do as we are continuing this commitment to border security is a guest worker programa guest worker program going forward that is a workable way for people to come into this country and have the ability to work out in the open. legally. to be able to go back and forth from their home country without being afraid they could not get back in. and a tamperproof identification for employers to easily be able to see that a person is legally in this country. I met with my good friend Massey Villarreal yesterday. and he said: Where is the help for the small businesses that may not even be computerized? I said: I know the Department of Homeland Security. when the regulations are made. will have a provision for a business that has one employee or two to be able to have a clear. easy way to verify with this tamperproof ID. There would be a picture on it and a biometric indication. So I think we need to work on the guest worker program immediately. along with the border security program. so that the economy of this country and the people who are seeking to work in our country to provide for their families wherever they may live would be able to be matched. I think we should do those two things first. That would be my suggestion of a new approach.
Keywords matched
deported border security