Immigration Reform
IMMIGRATION REFORM -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 06, 2006)
* Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of tolerant, effective, comprehensive immigration reform.
* Half a million people, if not a million people, marched peacefully in Los Angeles to let the Senate know that enforcement and border protection-only approach will not solve our broken immigration system. 300,000 people in Chicago, 40,000 in Washington, DC, and 20,000 in Milwaukee and Phoenix marched to defend the hopes and dreams of immigrant families. Nearly 40,000 students across Southern California, including students at several schools in my district, marched for the rights of immigrants.
* I urge my colleagues in this body and in the Senate to listen to the message which reverberated across the country and support a tolerant and effective immigration policy. We need effective legislation that strikes the right balance between national security and reforming our current immigration system.
* This should include a path to permanency for the millions of law-abiding and taxpaying immigrants who call the United States home. It should reduce the long lines in the family immigration system to promote family unity and include measures to control the future flow of immigrants by providing them with legal avenues to live and work in the United States.
* Several proposals under consideration by Congress have a different approach. Rather than fixing the broken immigration system, they worsen the myriad of enforcement only measures which have already been tried and which have failed.
* For example, between 1990 and 2000 the size of the border patrol tripled, yet the number of undocumented immigrants increased. Between 1999 and 2004, the number of border agents in the Tucson, Arizona sector of the border increased by 56 percent, while the number of arrests increased by only 4 percent.
* This enforcement only approach has done nothing to protect our Nation's security. It merely encourages immigrants to cross in remote areas where it is more difficult to be caught and where they are more likely to die. We must secure our borders. We need to know who is crossing our borders and living and working in our country for our national security. But, enforcement alone will not accomplish this goal.
* I hope the U.S. Senate follows the lead of its Judiciary Committee and adopts legislation that will truly reform the system and enhance our Nation's security.
* I am pleased that the bill approved by the Committee includes the DREAM Act. As a member of the California Assembly, I authored the first bill to allow in-state tuition for outstanding California students.
* Immigrant families are an important part of our social fabric and our economy. Undocumented workers contribute as much as $7 billion a year into the Social Security system yet do not collect benefits. They fill an increasing share of jobs in labor-scarce regions and fill the types of jobs native workers often shun.
* Immigrants and their families serve and sacrifice as members of our Nation's Armed Forces. There are more than 35,000 people defending our Nation who are not U.S. citizens, and another 28,806 members of the military who have become U.S. citizens since the events of 9-11. Since September 11, 73 servicemembers have been granted posthumous citizenship. One of them, Francisco Martinez Flores of Duarte, was a constituent of mine. Their sacrifice is no less important to our country because of their immigration status. Undocumented immigrants are our neighbors, co-workers, fellow worshipers, and friends. Many of them want to stay in America and become full-fledged members of our society.
* President Bush said "Immigration is an important topic....... We need to maintain our perspective....... At its core, immigration is a sign of a confident and successful nation." I hope the Senate keeps this in mind and does not let itself be influenced by the demagogues in our media and in Congress.
* As the proud daughter of immigrants, I value America's history of treasuring the contributions that immigrants have made to America. For generations, immigrants all over the World have been welcomed by the Statue of Liberty's message: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, ....." We should not forget that our ancestors struggled and yearned for the American dream as much as immigrants do today.
* Today, I was pleased to join the Progressive Caucus in sending a letter to the Senate asking for real and comprehensive immigration reform. I urge my colleagues to adopt legislation which provides a real solution for our broken immigration system and reject enforcement-only proposals.
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