For Immediate Release
Friday, May 13, 2005
WASHINGTON - Senators McCain and Kennedy, and Representatives Kolbe, Flake and Gutierrez, joined by Senators Brownback and Lieberman today introduced The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005. The legislation follows months of thoughtful debate and negotiation, which has resulted in bipartisan, bicameral, comprehensive border security and immigration reform.
“The status quo is unacceptable, and we need to modernize our broken immigration system to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. And we need policies that continue to reflect our best values as a nation -- of fairness, equal opportunity, and respect for the law. One of the mistakes of the past is to assume we can control illegal immigration on our own. A realistic immigration policy must be a two-way street. Under our plan, America will do its part, but we expect Mexico and other nations to do their part, too, to replace an illegal immigration flow with regulated, legal immigration,” said Kennedy.
McCain said, “Homeland security is our nation’s number one priority, this legislation includes a number of provisions that together will make our nation more secure. For far too long, our nation’s broken immigration laws have gone unreformed – leaving Americans vulnerable. We can no longer afford to delay reform. I am proud to join my colleagues today as an original Sponsor of this legislation”
“This is a comprehensive bill that doesn’t try to solve the hemorrhaging immigration problem with a ban-aid – this bill is major surgery. The majority of the illegal immigration is happening in Arizona, and I will not stand by and let southern Arizona be the doormat for this country’s failed immigration policy,” said Rep. Kolbe. “They are illegal immigrants – they have broken the law and must be punished. That is why this legislation includes strict fines and penalties for those already in this country illegally and tough punishments for employers who hire illegal immigrants. More importantly, it provides the secure identification document so an employer can know the person seeking work is here legally. We must recognize reality and implement a tightly structured guest worker program to securely, and legally, fill jobs that no American is available or wants to do. Over the past several years, border security has been a necessity for all members of Congress, but it has been a top priority for only a few. Today, I am proud to continue my work as one of those few. I will work hard with Senator McCain, Senator Kennedy, Rep. Flake and Rep. Gutierrez to educate Congress and the public about the need for practical reform. We are at an important threshold – we can either work hard to secure our borders through commonsense reform of our immigration system, or hang-on to unrealistic ideals that will never improve the safety of our country.”
“We need a plan that fairly balances national security, economic reality, and worker protections, and I think our bill comes pretty darn close," said Flake. "I believe that this bill is very consistent with President Bush's principles of immigration reform and, given that the President has made immigration reform a priority of his second term, I hope that our colleagues in Congress will give this bill the consideration that it deserves.”
“This bill represents a vital step toward an immigration policy that makes sense,” Gutierrez said. "It reflects the enormous contributions immigrants make every day, it respects our nation's proud history of welcoming men and women to seek a better life and it better protects our homeland by creating a system of improved accountability and security."
If enacted, this legislation will help America meet 21st century challenges by replacing current outdated immigration laws with reforms that will improve our border security and make immigration policies more realistic and enforceable. The bill will help get control of our borders, strengthen our national security, create an even playing field for employers and ensure full labor rights for all our workers.
The following is Senator McCain’s floor statement on The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act:
Mr. McCain. Mr. President, after more than five months of work, I am please to be joined by Senators Kennedy, Brownback, Lieberman, Graham, and Salazar in introducing the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. This bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform legislation is designed to fix our nation’s broken immigration system. This landmark legislation would bring common sense to the current system and promote our national security interests.
I am equally pleased by the effort of Congressmen Kolbe, Flake, and Gutierrez who are introducing the House companion bill.
While in previous years we worked independently on immigration reform legislation, we are coming together today to introduce what we believe is groundbreaking, comprehensive legislation. Over a year ago, the President laid out a framework for what comprehensive immigration reform should look like. We have used the President’s framework to craft this package and I applaud the President for his leadership on this issue.
The simple fact is that America’s immigration system is broken. Recent vigilante activities along the Southwestern border have shown that the current situation is not sustainable. Americans are frustrated with our lack of border security and our inability to control illegal immigration. We have spent billions of dollars on border enforcement. We have sent more–but still not enough– federal agents to the border equipped with sophisticated technology. We have worked to harden the border in key places. And yet, illegal immigration continues.
I would like to mention some startling statistics that demonstrate the critical need for immigration reform. I think the numbers speak for themselves:
– Over 300 people died last year trying to cross the border – about 200 of those deaths occurred in Arizona’s desert.
– Last year 1.1 million illegal immigrants were caught by the Border Patrol in 2004. 51% of those were caught in Arizona.
– The Border Patrol is currently apprehending over 1,000 undocumented immigrants a day in Arizona.
– According to the FBI, an increasing number of these individuals are OTMs (Other Than Mexicans) from “countries of interest.”
Homeland security is our nation’s number one priority, and this legislation includes numerous provisions that together will make our nation more secure. This bill includes provisions to strengthen border security, both on our side of the border and throughout this hemisphere. Through the establishment of a new electronic employment verification system, the bill will create a more secure mechanism to better enforce our nation’s immigration laws within our borders. Additionally, the bill enhances the authority of the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security to conduct random audits to ensure that employers are holding up their end of the bargain. And if they aren’t, they face double fines.
Make no mistake, this is not an amnesty bill. We are not here to reward law-breakers, and any accusations to the contrary are patently untrue. This bill recognizes the problems inherent in the current system and provides a logical and effective means to address these problems. The reality is, there are an estimated million undocumented people living and working in this country. It would be impossible to identify and round up all 10 to 11 million of the current undocumented, and if we did, it would ground our nation’s economy to a halt. These millions of people are working. Aliens will not come forward to simply “report and deport.” We have a national interest in identifying these individuals, incentivizing them to come forward out of the shadows, go through security background checks, pay back taxes, pay penalties for breaking the law, learn to speak English, and regularize their status. Anyone who thinks this goal can be achieved without providing an eventual path to a permanent legal status is not serious about solving this problem.
Part of the failure of the existing system is its inability to provide sufficient legal channels to pair willing workers with willing employers. This bill establishes a new market-based temporary worker program so that when there is no U.S. worker to fill a job, employers will be able to hire willing and able foreign workers who have gone through security background checks, medical exams, and paid a fee for their visa. And, by doing away with outdated numerical caps on this program, this bill recognizes that the needs of the U.S. economy are constantly in flux, and our immigration system must mach those needs.
I don’t believe there is another issue that is more important to our nation than immigration reform. For far too long, our nation’s broken immigration laws have gone unreformed – leaving Americans vulnerable. We can no longer afford to delay reform.
The complex and difficult problems associated with immigration reform will not be solved overnight, but they are among the most difficult challenges facing our nation today. That is why it is so important that the President shares our commitment to comprehensive reform. Together with the President, I am committed to this process and remain very hopeful that we will succeed.
I want to especially express my appreciation to Senator Kennedy and his staff for their sincere commitment to this critical issue. Also, the contributions to the bill as recommended by Senator Brownback have been invaluable to this effort. I would also like to thank Senator Lugar, who allowed us to incorporate critical international border enforcement provisions from his legislation, the North American Cooperative Security Act.
Through the collective efforts of a wide range of bipartisan interests in both houses of Congress, not to mention immigration advocacy groups, representatives of our nation’s businesses, and several labor unions, this comprehensive legislation provides a meaningful direction for how our immigration system should be reformed, and our border security strengthened.
I look forward to working with all interested parties in the important and necessary effort to once and for all reform our broken immigration system.
