Hearing of the Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.

Statement

HEARING OF THE IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP, REFUGEES, BORDER SECURITY AND INTERNATIONAL LAW SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: THE SECURITY THROUGH REGULARIZED IMMIGRATION AND A VIBRANT ECONOMY ACT OF 2007

REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R-CA): -- called Bonsai charges up the middle of the freeways after the last piece of legislation that was called "comprehensive." I served as a small mayor along that border, as a county supervisor along with you, in fact in a county of three million people, and I now serve as chairman of the Immigration Caucus.

Let me just tell you though, we have, since the '86 amnesty proposal, when I was a county supervisor and saw what happened along the borders, we have had more people die try to enter this country illegally every year that was killed in the Oklahoma explosion. Every year, we have lost more than that. And that started in '86 with the concept that we were going to reward illegal behavior by giving an amnesty at that time.

And that is why I've been so strong on this. I've seen the human cost. It's not an abstract to me. I don't live 2,000 and 3,000 miles from the border. I've seen the real life impact when it comes to what we do here in Washington.

I also want to point out that I am proud that I'm a child of a first generation immigrant, my mother. She was a war bride that came here in '44, played by the rules, got her citizenship as quickly as humanly possible.

And believe me, every time I go home and go upstairs to mom, she's always there to remind me that she played by the rules and everyone else should learn by example, that this is a legal immigrants, Madam Chair. And legal means a lot in a nation of laws.

The other thing that a lot of people may not know I'm going to say, I probably spend more time in Latin America than any other member of Congress. I would be interested to talk about this, but I see this issue from the South looking up, and that's why I feel so strongly on this. The border is not an abstract to me. Immigration is not something that affects just one little community. It affects the entire region.

I'll just ask you, with this bill, what do you want to accomplish with it? Do you want to stop illegal immigration? Because if you want to stop illegal immigration, Madam Chair, you do not start off the process of stopping illegal behavior by rewarding it.

And for those who say this is not a reward, I ask you, under the STRIVE Act, the proposal that you allow somebody who is illegally in the country to enter in the program and go through a program, are you going to allow everyone in this country or in the world, whoever broke our immigration laws, to have the same option?

Actually, the STRIVE Act has an interesting situation with the touch back. Now, think about the logic of this. Someone shows up from El Salvador and says, "I've never broken your laws. I've never come into your country illegally, but I'd like to come in now." We'd say, "Sorry, you have a process you have to do."

But if somebody shows up there from Guatemala and says, "I've been in your country illegally for 10 years. Here's my proof. I've broken your laws." And you say, "Fine. You get to qualify for this program, and only if you can show that you've broken the law do you qualify for this program."

Madam Chair, when you give a special program and special status for someone based on the fact they've violated the law, like it or not, it is amnesty. And that's what the American people take it to, no matter how much we talk here.

If it is not amnesty, then offer it to the 100 million out there who would love to come to this country legally. But that's not what's being proposed here today. Now, there are challenges that we can work on them.

Rather than talk about a 600-page document, why don't we talk about a common ground we can work on? H.R. 98, by Sylvester Reyes and David Dreier, talks about -- is included in this bill. Let's take that part and work on those things that we can find common ground on, rather than playing to the extreme.

Let's remember the mainstream in America that says let's make it simple for people to know whose illegally in this country, and let's got to the source of illegal immigration, and that's illegal employment, and crack down on the illegal employers.

And I challenge the majority, here is your chance to crack down on those people that have been profiteering by the blood, sweat, and I'd say the deaths of illegal immigrants, crack down on the employers. And H.R. 98 is the bill supported by the men and women of the border patrol who you and I hire and are in debt with the responsibility.

And I would ask that we consider bringing the border patrol agents here, and I would admonish both sides here. This is an immigration bill, why don't we bring in the people that would have to enforce the law. Would we do an education bill without ever talking to an educator? Do we do a military bill without ever talking to somebody who is a general in the military?

I ask you that we bring that in, so Madam Chair, this is not the bill at this place. If you want to see what happened in the Senate happen again, bring this to the floor and see what the American people will say, but I appreciate the chance. But I say again, let's join together, work on H.R. 98, and then we can talk about moving the agenda together. I yield back.

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