Immigration Debate a Matter of Homeland Security

Immigration Debate a Matter of Homeland Security

Our country has always had a commitment to legal immigration for people looking to make a better life for themselves and their families. Our national motto is, "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of Many, One) but we are better known as the great melting pot-a metaphor for the process of immigrants being assimilated into the American culture and lifestyle. Our country was built, in part, by waves of legal immigration to the United States in the mid to late nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries.

Although our nation rightfully pays homage to immigration and diversity, the topic has long been a subject of intense national debate. Since the 9/11 attacks, the debate takes on additional significance.

President Bush has unveiled a guest worker proposal that would allow undocumented aliens the opportunity to apply for a three-year, renewable work permit, free of the threat of deportation. The president's proposal is not currently scheduled to come to the House floor before the end of the year. When it does, there will be considerable debate in Congress.

I strongly believe that immigrants who come here should arrive through legal channels. We should not simply reward illegal behavior, by saying that the system has been broken and therefore we're going to just provide a blanket amnesty. Such an act would undermine the government's obligation for control of our borders.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports a record number of immigrants in the United States. Currently there are over 33 million, documented and undocumented immigrants in the country. Immigrants are a rising share of our population, currently 11.5 percent nationally, (although this is below the record 14.8 percent set in 1890). In addition, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that some 5 million people are living in the United States without permission, and the number is growing by about 275,000 per year.

Today immigration is a matter of homeland security. All of the 9/11hijackers entered this country legally on a temporary visa, mostly tourist visas with entry permits for six months. Although four of them attended flight school in the United States, only one is known to have entered on an appropriate visa for such study, and one entered on an F-1 student visa. The four pilots had been in the United States for extended periods, although none was a legal permanent resident. Some had received more than one temporary visa; most of which were currently valid on September 11, 2001. However, at least three of them had fallen out of status and were, therefore, in the United States illegally. These facts demonstrate how important improved control over immigration is to the safety of our nation.

My guiding principles with respect to immigration reform are: legal immigration, controlling America's borders, national security and economic security. Any plan must offer significant advances in reforming our immigration system to protect our country and strengthen legal immigration. There is not a benefit in rewarding those who have circumvented the process.

The Statue of Liberty still stands proud, welcoming immigrants from all corners of the globe. The United States continues to welcome more immigrants than any other nation. As in the past, immigrants are important to the country's future because the children of today's immigrants are the next generation of workers and leaders. There is a process for immigrating to the United States legally and we welcome new arrivals to participate in the great American experience of freedom and democracy. Circumventing the process by rewarding those who have come here illegally is counterproductive and does not make America safer.