26 MAR 07 / "The Case for Immigration"

The United States is a nation of immigrants. This fact has degenerated into a cliché, but that doesn't make it any less true. Americans are not of one ethnicity, race, or religion; but we are one people. And our national motto: E Pluribus Unum still means we're unified by our faith in the freedoms assured by our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. 

The Republican Party today is split on the president's immigration reform plan that has been wending its way through Congress. Make no mistake -- the debate about immigration is as old as the country itself -- and it has always been contentious. But the waves of immigrants that came to America's shores always enriched us. Always. Every successive wave stirred controversy, yet every wave impacted the United States positively. The waves have not eroded our nation's foundation, they have strengthened it. Immigrants came seeking a better life and made America a better place.

The Irish helped win the Civil War. The Chinese built the railroad. Additional immigrant groups helped win two World Wars. And in recent years many nationalities revitalized New York City -- the most diverse city in the world. The Statue of Liberty remains a beacon that continues to attract people from every nation -- and American society and culture remain strong enough to assimilate them.

An estimated 12 million people are now in the United States illegally, but the vast majority are decent and hard-working. They are not unskilled because their willingness to work as hard as they do is a skill in itself. They didn't come for a free lunch. They came to work. And -- like those that came before them -- that's exactly what they've been doing.

On farms across the country, they're harvesting the crops. Migrant workers in California have supported the agriculture industry there for more than 100 years. On construction sites, they're building affordable housing and new commercial structures. In restaurants, they're waiting tables and working in the kitchen. In shopping malls, they're cleaning the floors. In office buildings, they're working through the night emptying the trash. In cities across the country, many immigrants are opening their own businesses. In Iraq and Afghanistan, they're bravely serving beside American service men and women -- fighting in the military ranks of a country that has not yet accepted them into its civilian ranks.

They'll put a roof on your house and pick the fruit and vegetables for your table. They'll wash your car, landscape your property, care for your elderly parents, and won't ask for much in return -- just the opportunity for a better life. They've risked their lives to come here and missed the weddings of siblings and the funerals of parents because they could not go back home. They labor in a black market and deserve better than to be living in fear and isolation. America shouldn't be giving her immigrants a pink slip and a deportation ticket. As generations of Americans climb the ladder of prosperity, the country should allow those who have been holding the ladder steady to grasp the bottom rungs.

It's simply not possible to deport 12 million immigrants as some are advocating. The American people would not countenance mass deportations, which would cripple important industries to include lodging, food service, retail, construction, agriculture, and health care. Immigrants account for almost half of the labor growth since 1996 and make up 15 percent of our current workforce. What happens if you remove these millions of workers from a country with just 4.5 percent unemployment? You hamstring the American economy. Immigration is not only our past, it is our future. And if we deny our past, we deny the great potential of our future. Immigrants are integral to our economy and should be integrated into our society.

I support the president's temporary guest worker proposal because it will enhance national security by keeping us competitive in the global economy and ensuring our super power status. It will also take the pressure off the border. The Border Patrol will then be able to focus on capturing terrorists and intercepting weapons of mass destruction. The president's plan matches willing employers with willing employees in jobs most Americans will not do. He has demonstrated political courage on this issue because his position is not popular with some Republicans. And legislation has not moved through the Congress largely because of Republican opposition. Republicans who disagree with me on this issue have the nation's best interest in mind.

First, many believe we should not reward illegal behavior by granting amnesty, but immigration laws have changed arbitrarily in the last century. For example, under today's more restrictive laws my grandparents would have been illegal. Our current law does not reflect the law of supply and demand in the U.S. labor market. Also, entering the country without a visa or overstaying a visa is not a felony. It is a misdemeanor. The president's plan is not an amnesty for those currently here illegally because there are provisions for financial penalties. And the path toward citizenship will be long and challenging. They will not start at the front of the line.

Second, immigration does tax our health care, criminal justice, educational systems; but on the whole the contributions of immigrants far outweigh the costs. Immigration is vital to our future and to our national security because it is actually are helping the United States win the war on terror. Immigration increases our tax base and our productivity, creating more jobs while keeping inflation in check. It gives the United States renewed vigor, vitality, and an entrepreneurial spirit that allows us to continue to compete with the burgeoning economies of China and India. Regularizing the immigrants currently here would also alleviate the looming entitlement crisis by making the United States demographically younger. And we must not forget that our diversity has been our greatest source of strength. Our economy depends upon the labor of immigrants. They do not burden us, they enrich us.

Third, immigrants don't push Americans out of jobs. They take the jobs we don't take. And thousands of jobs are still not getting filled by Americans. Since the 1970's, unemployment has decreased from the double-digits to less than 5 percent while immigration has increased. Those of us who were born in the United States won freedom's lottery. We can rise as far as our God-given potential will allow. It is right and fitting that we expand this freedom at home just as we're trying to expand it around the world. Immigration is not a failed policy because immigrants have never failed the United States. 

All Republicans agree that assimilation is the linchpin that holds the nation together. It is critical that newcomers become American. They must adopt their new culture even as they continue enjoying the traditions of their old culture. The United States is the melting pot, not the gorgeous mosaic. We are not a multicultural nation and should not allow ourselves to become one. We are one culture -- imbued with freedom and a spirit of independence. And we must continue to be unified as a party to defeat the multiculturalists. Special rights and privileges will not be granted. Teddy Roosevelt said "There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities." Teddy Roosevelt was right. Our door is open if you want to assimilate. Our door is closed if you want to use our freedoms against us. Those that commit crimes should be punished and deported. And we must remain vigilant for terrorists. We will not admit or allow anyone to or stay who has the intent of subverting the government of the United States. 

Republicans also agree that assimilation means immigrants must learn English. Language is culture, and English is the key to unlocking opportunity in the United States. There is no need for ballots in the United States to be printed in hundreds of languages. If you are eligible to vote, you should be expected to learn the language well enough to make informed choices at the polls. States provide sample ballots that immigrants can study before they go to the polls. And all of America's school children should be taught in English.

Throughout our history, we have shown a tremendous capacity to absorb and assimilate. About 70 million people have emigrated to the United States since 1840. We wouldn't have come so far as a nation without them. The percentage of foreign born in the United States now is roughly 10 percent. In 1910 that figure was 15 percent. So you see we've been here before. Many of the problems we face with immigrants are do to the fact that they are not full-fledged members of our communities. We don't need to grant them citizenship immediately, but we must give them a stake in the future of the country they are doing so much to support. Immigrants will have tamper-proof ID cards with biometric information,

A nation is neither sovereign nor safe without a secure border. Border security is a matter of national security. I believe we can control the border -- partially with a fence, but mostly through the use of advanced technology.

A tragic event in American history occurred in 1939 just months before WWII when more than 900 Jews fled Nazi persecution in Germany on the ocean liner SS St. Louis. They languished off the coast of Florida and ultimately were denied asylum by President Roosevelt because of political pressure from members of his party. The St. Louis was forced to return to Europe where almost all of her passengers were murdered in the Holocaust. Today, thousands of Iraqis have been helping the United States and coalition forces and they may soon need our help as thousands of Vietnamese did in the 1970's. If necessary, the United States should give them asylum.

And for the immigrants who do become citizens, the Republican Party can compete for their votes because we've got the best ideas. If immigration threatens our national security, it is only because our party is divided on the issue. And it will be difficult to retain the presidency and regain the Congress if we remain so. The Republican Party must come together on this issue for the sake of the country. Democrats in the White House and in control of Congress are a threat to national security. Immigration is one of those ideals that the founders knew to be important to the future of the United States, and we must remain true to the principles that made this country great -- that's what conservatism means.

Republicans today yearn for Ronald Reagan's brand of leadership. In 1986, President Reagan signed a bill that allowed those here illegally at the time to stay, but the new law didn't establish a guest worker program. Yet there's no question Reagan understood the important role immigrants play in our society. In a radio address in 1979, Reagan said "One thing is certain in this hungry world, no regulation or law should be allowed if it results in crops rotting in the fields for lack of harvesters." On a trip to Moscow, President Reagan told Russian students "You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman; you can go to live in Germany, you cannot become a German -- or a Turk, or a Greek, or whatever. But anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in America and become an American." And in his final address to the nation, Reagan said "I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still." That was Ronald Reagan on the issue of immigration.

Some people in other countries believe America's stature in the world has diminished, but you can't tell that to her immigrants. They're here because they believe in America. We need to believe in them. The United States achieved greatness due to the striving of millions of immigrants. We are indebted to all of those who emigrated to the United States seeking only the freedom to succeed or fail based upon their own innate abilities. They literally built a nation while pursuing the American dream.