Immigration

Floor Speech

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Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, now that we are back in Washington and starting some very serious conversations, I wanted to make clear where I stand on an issue that I think most Americans, certainly most Members of Congress, believe is of urgent importance, and that is on the issue of immigration.

Immigration is now part of a larger negotiation that is going on, largely in the Senate, in addition to funding things like Ukraine, the Middle East conflict, and support in Taiwan. It is all in the mix.

Truth be told, since becoming a Member of Congress, I have never seen an issue more politicized than the issue of immigration. I think most of us, regardless of party, would agree that our immigration system is broken. It is not working for anyone--not the communities struggling to handle thousands of migrants; not our own economy, where we actually really need immigration; not the migrants themselves who are walking, in some cases, a thousand miles with their children to get to our border.

Both Democrats and Republicans share blame on this situation. We have had chances to reform this totally broken system in the past, but we have fallen short over and over again.

It does not have to be this way. I think, as rational, practical people, we should be able to come together and have a conversation about how we think this most American of issues should go, and as we do, we should follow what I consider the five core pillars to address this comprehensive crisis:

Number one, immigration in the United States should be based on the needs of the U.S. economy and the employers in the United States. Right now, every single employer that I know is looking for legal labor, and our economy can take new people coming into the workforce.

We should key our immigration numbers to the economy. Immigration numbers, visa numbers, are set by Congress--not by the White House, but by this body that I sit in, so if we want to raise the caps of legally allowed visas in the United States, that is on this body.

Number two, we have to change the system so that immigrants can come to this country by applying from their home countries. Have it be faster to get a legal work permit from your home country rather than walking, as I said, a thousand miles, making this dangerous journey to the border, or paying a whole bunch of unsavory people to get themselves over.

This is how it works on the northern border. I am from Michigan. You don't have border agents making decisions about whether someone gets to come into our country or not. They are checking the visas and the paperwork, stamping approved or unapproved and moving them through.

Number three, we need to invest in border security. Every country in the world deserves to know who is coming inside their borders.

I am a national security person. I spent my entire life trying to make sure our homeland was protected. Every country has the right to know who is coming in. We need strong border security, and there are plenty of bipartisan proposals, including ones that I have presented, that can accomplish this.

Number four, we have to address the root causes of migration. Why are people risking their life to come to this country in the first place? It is poverty. It is violence back home. We have got to help those countries improve their situation, so we don't have such a flood of people feeling desperate to come to the United States. That is in their interests and ours.

Lastly, we need to live up to our values and morals as a country of immigrants, as a Nation of immigrants. I am guessing everyone in this room right now owes their lives in America to an immigration story, and we always should remain a place where people fearing persecution and death can come to for a chance to live.

I am willing to talk with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who wants to uphold commonsense conversations. I am willing to make progress, even if it is not popular, even if plans are imperfect. The truth is there are a lot of bipartisan ideas out there. They are just not sexy. They just don't get attention.

I am the cosponsor of something called the Dignity Act. It is a comprehensive reform plan. It is bipartisan. It was put together by folks in the Problem Solvers Caucus. To be honest about those future negotiations, we have to be honest that our immigration system is broken because of that partisanship, because all sides--Members of the House, the Senate, and the White House--are pointing fingers at everybody else.

There is a way out of this mess. It is the same thing our constituents do every day. They go to work. They have negotiations. Not everyone is happy, but they come up with a compromise.

As we kick off 2024, we know that this issue of immigration is on the top of all of our news feeds. It is being discussed in the Senate right now. I am willing to work with anyone who is actually focused on getting something done.

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