Speech #1140100973

They are just wrong. Both Donald Trump and other Republicans have made their agenda clear. They want to shut down DACA and DAPA and deport hundreds of thousands of DREAMers and the parents of American children who may be undocumented. If they have their way. Lisette will be deported back to Chile. a country where she hasnt lived since she was 6 years old. Will America be a stronger country without her? Will we be a better country if someone of her extraordinary talent is gone? Will it make us any safer. any better. if she is deported. as Donald Trump has called for? The answer to most rational people is very clear. I am hopeful the Supreme Court will uphold the Presidents immigration action. Then I hope the Republicans in Congress will reject Donald Trumps bigoted rhetoric and work with us to pass comprehensive reform immigration and fix our broken immigration system once and for all. There was a time. and it wasnt that long ago. when we passed comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. Senate. Fourteen Republicans joined with the Democrats to make this bipartisan measure at least a vehicle for us to finally address immigration reform in America. It was one of the better days in my service in the U.S. Senate. What happened to that bill after it passed with a bipartisan majority? It went to the House of Representatives. where it languished and died. In 3 years. not a single piece of legislation has been brought forward on the issue of immigration reform. Everyone concedes our immigration system is broken. We know we have undocumented people in this country. Those who are dangerous should be deported immediately. those who are not should be given a chance. That is what the bill saida chance to file their filing fee. to go through a criminal background check. to pay their taxes. to register with the government. and go to the back of the line and wait. many times waiting for 10 or 15 years for that chance to finally become a citizen of this country. That is what our bill said. I think it is fair. but the House of Representatives. under Republican leadership. would not bring it up. Sadly. this Presidential campaign has shown that many in the Republican Party are not only opposed to that legislation. they are opposed to the concept of immigration. They are opposed to the notion that people can come to this country and make a difference. Of the Fortune 500 companies in this country. the biggest employers. the ones that have had the most impact on our economya study found that 90 were started by immigrants to the United States. including some of the biggest and the most important. This is a nation of immigrants. I have said before. and I will again. I am proud to stand here as a firstgeneration American. My mother was an immigrant to this country. Thank goodness my grandparents had the courage to get up and leave Lithuania and come to the United States of America. Because of that.