Senate hearings chaired by Arlen Specter begin today in Philadelphia, along with House hearings in San Diego, on what many consider the social issue of our time: immigration.
I believe members of Congress will hear what I heard in 31 stops recently throughout New Mexico and Texas: The status quo is unacceptable, and comprehensive immigration reform is the best way to secure our border and our future. President Bush has offered a bold and comprehensive plan that provides real security, real enforcement and real fairness.
Like many Americans, my roots lie elsewhere. When I was 6 years old, Cuba's Communist regime stole my parents' land and virtually all our belongings. We fled to America, and I was grateful to be pushed to learn English from an elderly bellhop in a Miami hotel. In the midst of much uncertainty and anxiety, I felt welcomed by everyone I met. This trait is uniquely American: welcoming those who share our values and want to contribute to society. On Jan. 4, 1966, I became a U.S. citizen. To this day, my U.S. passport is my most valued possession. I am proud and grateful to be an American.
It's a false choice to think the immigration debate is a battle between America being a welcoming society and being a nation of laws. We can do both.
Of course, the highest priority must be securing our borders and strengthening enforcement inside our country. Immigration reform must begin with strengthening and integrating personnel, technology, and infrastructure to prevent people from crossing the border illegally. The president's objective is to keep the border open to trade and tourism, and closed to criminals, drug dealers and terrorists.
President Bush wants to add 9,107 more border agents in the next two years, construct high-tech fences and monitoring devices, widen border patrols, and expand our detention facilities.
However, to truly secure the border, we must have a temporary-worker program that recognizes we have jobs that will not get filled without foreign workers. The president's proposal provides a sensible, legal way to match willing foreign workers with willing employers to fill the jobs that Americans aren't available to do.
A temporary-worker program is essential to meet workforce needs that are the result of our growing economy and the impending retirement of 77 million baby boomers. Recently, more than 500 of our nation's top economists, including five Nobel laureates, signed a joint letter stating unequivocally that immigration has been a net gain for American citizens.
Finally, strengthening enforcement of immigration laws at work sites should be a key component of a reform bill. We can improve work-site enforcement by using tamperproof identification cards that allow businesses to verify an employee's legal status.
We cannot tolerate businesses that knowingly violate our laws and the public's trust, and the president is committed to holding these employers accountable. He has already increased enforcement funding by 42 percent since taking office, and more arrests of employers have been made this year than the total number made in the five years before he took office.
The promise of America that once attracted the Irish, or the Italians, or the Germans, or the Jews, or the Scandinavians, or the Chinese today prompts Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans and others to risk their lives to live the American dream.
They yearn for freedom and to work, to realize their dreams, to pursue opportunity, and to build better lives for their families. They are driven by the same strong work ethic that has made this the greatest country on Earth. It is just not practical or wise to deport these individuals.
Nor is it compassionate, because it would require ripping apart parents from their American-born children.
Under the president's plan, these individuals could earn legal status by paying a fine and taxes, passing a criminal background check, and learning English. Importantly, they will have to take their place in line behind those who have applied legally. This is not automatic citizenship. This is not unconditional amnesty.
As this debate unfolds, try for just a moment to imagine this country without immigration. Imagine a New York with no vibrant Little Italy or Chinatown, a Midwest without the fun of Oktoberfest, or a Southwest without a pulsing Cinco de Mayo. Now imagine yourself as a citizen of Russia, India, China or, in my case, Cuba. Without immigration, that's where each of us would be. Somewhere else.
Americans deserve a reasoned, thoughtful debate. I am hopeful the House and Senate field hearings will deliver.
___________________________________________________________________________ Carlos M. Gutierrez (cgutierrez@doc.gov) is U.S. secretary of commerce.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
