Speech #1100084495

We could not get cloture to proceed. and it was defeated. It was defeated for a number of reasons. But I believe the immigration issue is one of great national concerngreat importanceand ought to be revisited by the Congress and that ought to be done at as early a time as possible. We have a very serious problem with people coming across our bordersa criminal element. and a potential terrorist element. The rule of law is broken by people who come here in violation of our laws. We have continuing problems from the 1986 legislation that employer verification is not realistic because there is no positive way of identification. No matter how high the borders or the value of border patrol. it is not possible to eliminate illegal immigration if the magnet Is present. The legislation I will be putting in as part of the RECORD at the conclusion of my remarks Is a draft of suggested proposals to be considered by the Senate. There are two major changes which have been undertaken. Much as I dislike to. I have eliminated the automatic path to citizenship but instead deal with the fugitive status of the undocumented immigrants. the 12 million. and eliminate that fugitive status. Whether it is categorized as permanent legal resident or some other category. as a matter of nomenclature it can be worked out. But the principal concern has not been the citizenship. although it is a desirable factor to try to Integrate the 12 million into our society. But the 53. Pt. 15 July 30. 2007 principal concern has been that when an undocumented illegal immigrant sees a policeman on the street. there is fear of apprehension and being rounded up and deported. or the undocumented illegal is at the mercy of an unscrupulous employer who will take advantage of them and they cannot report to the police the treatment or a violation of law by an employer because they are fearful of being arrested and deported. In many places you cannot rent an apartment or undertake other activities. So I think eliminating the fugitive status is a major improvement. The other significant change is to not tamper with or change family unification but to leave it as it is now. We had come up with. with the bill which was defeated. an elaborate point system for immigration. It was our best effort but. candidly. it turned out to be halfbaked. It did not go through the hearing process to hear from experts. It did not have that kind of refinement and raised a lot of problems. That could be revisited at a later date. I have worked with the socalled interest groups representing immigration interests and have had what I consider to be a relatively good response. I do not want to characterize it or put words in anybodys mouth. There is a certain reluctance to make any more concessions because concessions were made last year and the bottom fell out.