Facts on Immigration
Senate Judiciary Committee Tackles Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Round One
March 6, 2006
The Senate Judiciary Committee began marking up comprehensive immigration reform legislation last Thursday, but did not get beyond opening statements in their work. The Judiciary Committee plans to reconvene to continue its business on immigration on Wednesday, March 8 at 9:30, continuing Thursday March 9, and the following Wednesday and Thursday if necessary.
We can already tell, however, that Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) intends to have a thorough and open debate on the issues and that all points of view will be considered. The debate over immigration is in very capable hands.
There was unanimous agreement among the Senators that what the House passed in December, the enforcement-only H.R. 4437, was inadequate to the task of actually addressing the immigration and border security issues facing the country. Continuing down the path of trying to control immigration by cracking down in ineffective ways will not pass muster in the Senate.
Furthermore, this approach misses two fundamental points about the current debate. The problem is not bad immigrants flaunting good laws; the problem with the status quo is bad laws. We have a system or regulating legal entry to the country that is completely divorced from the demand for legal entry visas from our economy. Secondly, those who say we must secure our borders before we more effectively regulate legal entry have it precisely backwards. We cannot secure our borders until we regulate legal entry realistically.
These points were echoed in a slew of recent editorials. Today’s Miami Herald points out:
To really fix our broken immigration system, Congress must create legal channels to control U.S. demand for foreign unskilled labor and ensure national security at the same time. We need effective enforcement and earned residency. Building fences and more border guards will not solve the problem -- not until adequate visas exist for legal immigration flows. – Editorial, “Senate immigration debate begins,” Miami Herald, March 6, 2006
Saturday’s Los Angeles Times points to legislation introduced ten months ago that strikes the right balance between legal immigration, enforcement, and border security:
The McCain-Kennedy legislation would issue a realistic number of guest-worker visas each year, tighten workplace and border enforcement and create a way for those now here illegally to legalize their status and aspire to citizenship after paying a sanction. The House wants to "secure the borders" without simultaneously addressing the legitimate needs of the U.S. economy. – Editorial, “Bordering on paralysis,” Los Angeles Times, March 4, 2006