Secretary says Congress can and must act fast on immigration reform
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano expressed confidence Friday that Congress would introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill in early 2010 and that debate and passage of the legislation could occur before the mid-term elections later that year.
A lot has changed since Congress last debated the issue in 2007, Napolitano asserted in a major policy speech at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC.
"In 2007, many members of Congress said that they could support immigration reform in the future, but only if we first made significant progress securing the border," Napolitano said in her remarks. "This reflected the real concern of many Americans that the government was not serious about enforcing the law. Fast-forward to today, and many of the benchmarks these members of Congress set in 2007 have been met."
The US Border Patrol has grown to 20,000 officers and DHS has built nearly 700 miles of border fencing since that time, demonstrating the commitment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enforcement, Napolitano noted. New technologies from biometrics to surveillance equipment along the US southwestern border have brought an unprecedented focus to keeping illegal immigrants out of the United States, she added.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also has seized more than $34 million in cash from smugglers attempting to take it into Mexico so far this year, the secretary said, more than four times as much at this point last year.
But perhaps most importantly, the debate over immigration reform in 2007 occurred at a time when extremely high numbers of illegal immigrants were entering or attempting to enter the United States, Napolitano asserted. Now improved enforcement and economic recession have reduced the number of people attempting to enter the United States illegally, creating a different environment for the debate.
Moreover, Congress should be able to act relatively quickly on immigration reform legislation because the elements of the debate are essentially the same as they were when legislation was debated in 2006 and 2007, making lawmakers well familiar with the terms of immigration reform.
"I've been dealing hands-on with immigration issues since 1993, so trust me: I know a major shift when I see one, and what I have seen makes reform far more attainable this time around," Napolitano declared.
Elements of reform
Napolitano defined the terms of immigration reform as more than simply offering a path to legalization for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States. She called reform a three-legged stool consisting of more enforcement authority, improvements in travel for families and workers, and a "firm but fair" means of dealing with the illegal immigrants presently in the United States.
DHS has answered the call of Congress to boost enforcement of immigration laws, Napolitano said, making the current immigration debate different than the last legalization in 1986, after which enforcement efforts fell short.
But the department needs tougher anti-smuggling laws to continue effective enforcement, Napolitano said. She pointed to the example of smugglers using "stored value" cards, which the United States does not consider monetary instruments under current money-smuggling laws.
In addition, increasing civil fines for employing illegal aliens would deter more employers from hiring illegal aliens--and encourage more businesses to hire legal workers and more aliens to seek legalization, she said.
Immigration reform would require illegal immigrants seeking legalization to register with DHS, pay all back taxes they owe, and submit to any penalties they are required to fulfill in order to become legal US residents, Napolitano said. The law should require them to register, pay fines, pass criminal background checks, and learn English, the secretary specified.
The continued growth of the US economy will depend particularly on the nation's ability to hire and retain more skilled foreign workers, Napolitano argued. Many technology companies cannot hire enough skilled foreigners to meet the demands for high-tech jobs because of outdated visa restrictions.
Napolitano said she was confident the American economy would offer robust opportunities to both foreigners and citizens as it continues to recover, dismissing concerns that qualified Americans may find it difficult to obtain high-tech jobs in the current economic environment.
"Going forward, our visa policies must work for every sector of our economy, and across the income scale. In my meetings, leaders in agriculture, service industries and other fields have told me that current visa policies are hindering the growth of businesses looking to expand," Napolitano stated. "To address this economic need, we need carefully crafted programs that allow American businesses to hire needed foreign workers while protecting the labor and health-and-safety rights of all workers."
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