Our goal has to be to remove dangerous criminals from our streets so
that they don't harm people. That has got to be our focus. That is why I am so frustrated that we are taking out of a
comprehensive immigration reform bill--which could have done just
that--a provision that would have addressed this issue in a more
rational way; in a way that doesn't go after people seeking asylum; in
a way that doesn't say, ``If you have been convicted of three
nonviolent misdemeanors, you go to jail for 10 years;'' and in a way
that doesn't punish people who are victims of human trafficking who--if
they spent time in our prisons as a result of what they were forced to
do, go back to their country, come back seeking asylum--could be forced
to go to jail. These victims could be forced to go to jail for 20
years. None of that is going to keep our communities safer. We ought to work together. I urge my Republican colleagues to work
with us to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform that will
include provisions--like what is in this bill--that are still humane,
provisions that will help keep American citizens safe, but that don't
demonize immigrants. It is possible to do both. My friends on the other side of the aisle
know that it is possible to do both, and we ought to work together to
get that done.
Keywords matched
immigration seeking asylum immigrants