Mr. President. our Republican friends are at it againoffering simplistic and unworkable proposals in response to complex immigration issues. Our immigration policies should not only be about security and our economy. but they should reflect our humanity. decency. and morality. We are a Nation of immigrants. Immigrants are devoted to hard work. their families. their faith. and to America. Mr. President. 70.000 immigrants served honorably in our Armed Forces. and many have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those are the values that have built America and we should welcome them. But you would never know it from the misplaced immigration priorities of my Republican colleagues. Rather than tackle the Nations priorities. they continue to cater to the basest instincts of the far right fringe. For 7 years. Republicans have failed to fix the broken immigration system. offering only divisive measures and empty rhetoric that subvert our values as.a Nation of immigrants. undermine our national security. and leave American jobs unprotected. It is time to get real. Approximately 12 million people are living in our country outside the system. That is more than the population of New York City. Illegal immigrants are here because there are jobs. and there are jobs because employers know they can get away with breaking the law and abusing illegal workers. The past 7 years should have taught the Republicans that deportation alone doesnt work. Dont the Republicans get it? Deportationonly policies have failed spectacularly. Existing control efforts are unacceptably costly. We now spend over $10 billion on border and interior enforcement. and the system is more dysfunctional and lawless than ever.
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Immigrants are devoted to hard work, their families, their faith, and to America.