Securing America's Borders Act

SECURING AMERICA'S BORDERS ACT

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Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today to add my voice to this debate on reforming our immigration system. While many of us here may have our differences, I think one thing on which we all agree is that the current system is broken and something must be done now if we are ever to get this situation under control.

There does seem to be a consensus in this body, and I think it is appropriate, that we absolutely must strengthen our borders. I personally believe that securing our borders has to be a priority in what we achieve in this legislation. Our borders have been porous for years and we must take adequate steps to secure them, and we must do it now.

This is a homeland security issue, first and foremost, but it is also a good government issue. American taxpayers continue to see their tax dollars spent on securing our borders without the results they deserve. While traffic from areas where we have placed more enforcement has decreased, border crossings in total have risen by 43 percent, despite tripling patrol personnel. The cost of an arrest has increased from 1992, when it was $300, to the cost of $1,700 in 2002.

Americans cannot afford this type of performance from a security standpoint or an economic standpoint. At a time when America is facing its most serious threat and dealing with record deficits, having our borders remaining unsecured as we spend more on them is simply unacceptable. It is unacceptable to the American people in terms of security and economics.

But securing our borders without dealing with the over 12 million undocumented immigrants who are in this country is not the solution either. One without the other is not going to achieve the results we want in the cost-effective way we must do it.

Many in this body are probably somewhat unaware that my State of Arkansas had the largest per-capita increase of its Hispanic population of any State in the Nation during the last census. Arkansas has become what is referred to as an emerging Hispanic community, with largely first-generation immigrants. These immigrants have a dramatic impact on our communities and on our economies. They are hard working, they are active in the religious community, they are law abiding, and they are putting their children through school. Whether they came here legally or illegally, they are establishing roots and we cannot dispute that. The majority of immigrants in my State came to the United States because they wanted good work and a better way of life for their families. A good number of them are educated and wanted to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them in the U.S. economy. This is why a plan based on ripping these roots out of the ground and deporting over 10 million people is simply not realistic.

First, we couldn't afford it. Second, I am not sure we could implement it. And then think of what it would do to our economy.

While these people may have come here illegally, many of them have been here long enough now to have become part of the fabric of our communities. Removing them will break up families and it will hurt our local economies.

I am not saying we should grant amnesty, and neither does the amendment Senator Specter has offered. It is critical to know that amnesty is not the answer. No reform should grant amnesty. Total and immediate forgiveness for past crimes--these are not things we believe in this country. The rule of law is critical. To do so would severely undermine the rule of law in this country.

As I stated, it is impractical to believe, though, that we can simply round up and deport all illegals in this country. It is also unlikely we can coax illegals out of the shadows by offering them a limited period to remain in this country before we eventually deport them. They will continue to hide and move around in the same networks that have protected them thus far.

I believe the solution is earned legalization, and that is why I have supported the McCain-Kennedy bill and the similar bill that was passed out of the committee, offered as a substitute by Senator Specter.

Some have characterized these bills as amnesty. Amnesty is a general pardon for a previous crime. By contrast, this reform plan includes serious consequences for those who remain in our country illegally.

Under the committee bill, an illegal immigrant faces an immediate $1,000 fine, a security background check, application for a work visa, and an 11-year path to citizenship. Most immigrants who apply for citizenship now achieve that in 5 to 6 years. After staying continuously employed for 6 years, paying all back taxes, learning English--as my colleague from Oklahoma has expressed as being a very important part of this--learning U.S. history and government, and paying another $1,000 fine in application costs, the worker could then apply for a green card and legalization.

That is not going to the front of the line, but it is going to the end of the line after those who have already chosen a legal path to begin with. Their green card application, as I said, will go to the back of the line behind all the legal applicants who are waiting for those green cards. Finally, this path is only available to the illegal immigrants who were here before January of 2004.

This does not sound like amnesty to me. It sounds like a challenge but a challenge that presents excellent rewards instead of the dire consequences we would suffer if we took an irrational reaction to this enormous problem that is growing in our Nation.

The other path for an illegal immigrant would be to continue trying to hide. But now, under increased enforcement measures and stiffer penalties as we have seen that we would put into place under this bill, I believe the majority of the people who have come here illegally but came to make a better life for themselves, will emerge from those shadows to become legal residents of their communities, to engage in what we came here to seek, because we have provided for them a pathway to become legal.

It comes at cost. It comes at great cost to them, both financially as well as the time they have to spend to engage themselves in becoming legal residents of this great Nation. But it is worth it to them and it is worth it to us to set this issue straight, to begin to reform a problem that is growing desperately out of control.

Many of them already pay local taxes in the communities where they are. Some of them are paying into Medicare and Social Security with no promise of receiving any of the benefits. But think how we could strengthen those programs if we put them on a pathway to legalization. We know who these 12 million undocumented workers are and we put them into the system to strengthen Social Security and Medicare by assuring that their withholdings are coming out and going into the system as well.

I am reminded of an incident in my home State of Arkansas. Recently, we saw law enforcement officials who were acting on a tip from an informant. These were national law enforcement officials. They did not contact the local law enforcement in our small communities there in Arkansas, but the folks from Washington swooped into a poultry processing plant and they arrested approximately 120 workers who were carrying forged or illegal identification documents.

What occurred there does not make what those illegal immigrants did right. It doesn't make it right at all. They were there illegally. They were there with forged documents. Actually, it was a local U.S. citizen in the community who had helped produce those documents for them. But I want you for a moment to think about what occurred after these Washington law enforcement officials swooped into a community without notifying the local law enforcement and seized 120 workers.

Most of these workers were parents. They are parents who were not allowed to call home to tell their children what was happening. We had children who were left behind in the care of the Catholic Church, or friends, or anybody who would take care of these children. Some of them were as young as 12 months old--kids abandoned because the parents were not allowed to call.

It was a sudden and brutal act and it separated families and left a community divided. Not because people wanted to defend the illegals who were there, the undocumented, or those who were there with false documents, but because of the way it was handled. That is what we are here to debate. Not that we differ about that. I don't think anybody in this body wants amnesty. They don't. What they want to do is to make sure we handle this issue in the right way.

I would imagine most of my colleagues in this body learned, as I did, at an early age from their parents that there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. We have an opportunity to come together, to figure out the right way that is consistent with the American values we all hold dear, to figure out a solution to this enormous problem that continues to grow. It reflects on who we are as Americans with respect for the rule of law, making sure that people know they have to follow the law and they have to act within the confines of the law, but with the kind of encouragement that every human being should be allowed to reach their potential.

You can pay those fines, you can take the initiative and learn English and learn about this great country. You can get back at the end of the line after having tried to break into the line in front and still have the ability to reach that potential if you are willing to pay for your mistakes. That is what this bill is about.

When I think of the calls for the arrest and the deportation of 10 to 20 million undocumented immigrants in this country, I think of that frightful night in Arkansas where children and parents were severed in an unruly way. Their families were destroyed. Children were left by themselves without anyone to care for them because law enforcement had not thought that out.

I think of that frightful night in Arkansas and then I see it multiplied thousands of times across this country. That is not the right way to handle this issue. As Americans, we can be smart. Yes, we can be diligent and we can even be tough. But we can be tough in a way that reflects the values of who we are and how this Nation was created--by giving people opportunity and requiring responsibility.

We stand at a crossroads in this country. Over the last decade and a half, the Latino population has expanded in every area of our country, many of them coming here legally but some illegally. We are faced with a decision that gets to the heart of what values we hold dear as Americans. We have always said: If you work hard and you play by the rules, there is a place for you in America to raise your children and contribute to our great melting pot, to strengthen our communities, to be a part of this great land.

We are faced now with what to do with some who have broken the rules to come here but have since worked hard to provide for their families. I hope the Senate will give this very difficult question the reasoned and thorough debate it deserves, but that we will not forget the balance, the very intricate balance of American values that brings out the rule of law and the importance of the rule of law but also the desire and the compassion we feel. That is what the American spirit is all about.

I believe the Senate will agree to welcome those who came here illegally if they are willing to show another American value, and that is sacrifice. We all know a great deal about sacrifice as we see incredible Americans, men and women in the Armed Forces and all over this country, whether it is our emergency responders or others. If we see those who have come here illegally showing that willingness to exhibit that American value of sacrifice, then I think we as a body will be able to produce something to welcome them into our great society and our great Nation.

I urge my colleagues, as we continue in this debate, that we keep our heads calm and our minds open.

I yield the floor.

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