Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
On The Motion To Proceed
Senate Floor
May 21, 2007

As the Senate prepares to vote on the Majority Leader’s motion to proceed to a comprehensive immigration reform bill, I continue to have concerns about the proposal announced last week.

I commend Senator Kennedy for working so hard over the last several months to revive a bipartisan bill.  He worked closely behind the scenes with Senator McCain for several months.  When those efforts did not lead to success, he did not give up.  On the contrary, he spoke to a number of Republican Senators who had actively worked with us last year.  When they would not join him in a bipartisan effort, he joined the process that Secretary Chertoff had begun with opponents of last year’s bill.  In extended discussions he and others have now come forward with a proposal.  I commend his commitment and his efforts, as well as those who have participated in the difficult discussions. 

I would also like thank the Majority Leader.  He had intended to set aside two full weeks this month for Senate consideration of comprehensive immigration reform.  When the informal discussions were not completed on time, he gave those discussions more time.  He was right that this issue warrants a significant commitment of the Senate’s time and I am glad to work with him to make sure that consideration is fair and comprehensive.

I will support the motion to proceed and the Majority Leader’s cloture petition to go to the bill in order to allow the Senate the opportunity to work its will on this matter.  Many of us have said that the bipartisan proposal -- the Kennedy-Kyl-Chertoff proposal -- represents a starting point for consideration. 

As the authors of the proposal know, this Senator feels very strongly about the provisions that affect dairy workers and the circumstances of that important industry.  I also take a particular interest in the provisions that affect seasonal workers for the many Vermont businesses that require them, and in the needs of our leading high technology companies.  I had thought the proposal announced last week included -- as I had been assured it did -- the dairy provisions essential to the AGJOBS bill.  I hope that assurance is ultimately fulfilled.

Beyond these provisions, I have a number of fundamental concerns that I hope the Senate will address in the days, and perhaps weeks, ahead.  In his radio address of May 12, President Bush restated that comprehensive reform must “treat people with dignity.”  He said we must “honor the great American tradition of the melting pot,” and that we must help immigrants “embrace our common identity as Americans.”  I agree.  I believe that part of that common heritage is our welcoming of immigrants and their families.  America is a land in which families matter, in which our values call for us to provide not just for ourselves at the cost of severing family ties, but for our families. 

As the Statue of Liberty proclaims, America is a country that welcomes the poor and those yearning to breathe free, not just the well-educated and those who already speak English.  We never know who among those immigrating to our shores will turn out to be the next great military leader, the next great entrepreneur, the next great inventor, the next to lift this Nation to greater heights. 

I want the bill we pass to recognize the best of America and our values and the best of our traditions as a land of immigrants.  I also want it to be practical and workable.  The so-called triggers in the White House proposal do two things:  First, they appear to put off implementation of most of immigration reform to the next Presidency and the next Congress.  Second, they require absolute faith in the Department of Homeland Security and the Bush Administration.  Given the record of this Administration, I see little basis for such faith. 

When this Administration’s representatives say to us that in the next 18 months they will secure the borders and devise and implement identification verification measures without fail, I remember the last 24 months in which they have failed the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf States.  I see an Administration that has ignored immigration enforcement for years.  I see an Administration that does not deal realistically with the northern border.  I see an Administration that has all but destroyed the Justice Department and severely undermined its traditions as a neutral law enforcement agency above politics.  I see an Administration that denied global warming, disregarded science and most egregiously, has disregarded the realities of its current disastrous engagement in Iraq. 

I have urged the President to invest himself in the process and work with Congress.  I did so on the first day of this Congress and at the one Senate hearing held on this matter in February.  The path chosen by the Administration was not the one I recommended, however.  Instead, the Administration remained on the far right of the immigration debate and has pushed the bill and the debate in that direction. 

We have before us a measure that was the product of closed-door meetings between the Administration and Republican Senators, which was then put to Democratic Senators as the framework from which any further negotiations could proceed.  Senator Kennedy has done his best and has made improvements in the proposal.  He deserves our thanks. Whether the proposal is where it should be is what this debate will begin to determine.

The substitute bill the Administration endorses creates a temporary worker program with no opportunity to pursue the American dream.  This bill risks the creation of a permanent, revolving underclass of workers with limited rights to participation in our society and with no opportunity to advance through hard work and diligence.  A temporary worker program with no opportunity to share in the promise of America creates an incentive for overstays and risks creating a new population of undocumented individuals just as we work so hard to bring millions of people out of the shadows of society.  I also worry that the temporary worker program included in the bill does not effectively serve the needs of American employers.  I worry that it is unrealistic. This part of the proposal is opposed by a wide array of interests and constituencies, including organized labor, business, and advocates for immigrants.  I hope we listen carefully to their concerns as we proceed.   

The substitute bill also erodes our traditional commitment to family unity by removing whole segments of family-based immigration.  No longer will certain family members be allowed to be sponsored by their loved ones in the United States.  Instead, proponents seek to create a supposedly merit-based green card system subject to a point system, where family ties are de-emphasized, and immediate contributions through education and job skills already attained are valued.   I recognize that we may benefit in the short run from a more highly-skilled foreign labor pool, but I have grave concerns about doing so at the expense of our traditional commitment to family unity and fostering strong families.  Where are the family values here?   

The substitute bill also will require all Americans — not just foreign workers — to verify their citizenship before obtaining a job.  Like the REAL ID Act that was forced on the American people outside the normal legislative process, this requirement is yet another example of the Administration’s consistent denigration of Americans’ rights, including the right to privacy.  The Administration is telling all Americans that we can no longer trust you—that Big Brother will control hiring for all jobs in American.  From America’s country stores to our largest corporations, employers will now be de facto immigration officials, and potential employees will be presumed illegal until they prove themselves citizens.  I hope we can reconsider this ill-conceived program, which cuts so hard against the presumptive decency and honesty of American citizens.  America’s democracy works because law-abiding Americans chose to comply with our laws, pay their taxes, and participate in our civil society. 

I am pleased that significant parts of AGJOBS have been included in this bill.  The legalization provisions for currently undocumented farm workers will go a long way toward helping farmers and removing the cloud of fear from so many workers.  I commend Senator Feinstein and Senator Craig for their work in this regard.  But the bill also rejects parts of the monumental compromise reached between farm workers and agricultural employers in the AGJOBS bill, which provides much needed reforms for America’s farmers, dairy operators, and farm workers.  I am extremely disappointed that American dairy farmers who want to hire future legal foreign workers end up losing out to the talking point that “temporary means temporary.”  The diverse coalition that put the AGJOBS bill together recognized that certain sectors of agriculture require special circumstances.  It is too bad that the AGJOBS legislation we worked so hard to produce will not be fully respected.  I will fight throughout this process to support our country’s dairy farmers who work hard to sustain all of us.  I trust that the dairy provisions that had been agreed to will be restored.  

The bill also neglects the real needs of the high tech community, which has been vigilant in seeking a reliable source of high-skilled workers.  Instead of adding sufficient H-1B visa numbers to allow companies to stay competitive in the global marketplace, and remain the world’s leaders in innovation and problem-solving, the bill creates a green card system that does not truly address the technology industry’s needs, removes hiring decisions from the company, and places them with the Federal Government.  Does that make any sense?  It is unfortunate that the proponents of the compromise have been unwilling to listen carefully to our high tech leaders but have insisted on the purity of an ideological framework.  

There are some good aspects to the bill.  It incorporates the Dream Act, a bill I have long supported.  It has provisions that can move millions of undocumented people in this country on a path to citizenship, if not unrealistically delayed by the so-called triggers.  Regrettably, it currently includes a provision to require immigrants to return to their home country before applying.  That is, in my view, unrealistic in many circumstances and inflexibly harsh in others.  Those who struggled to get here — who escaped oppressive and dysfunctional governments — should not be required to repeat that journey to share in the promise of America.  It is driven by ideology, not fairness, and should be revisited in this legislative process. 

I am also encouraged that we may be past the anti-immigrant opposition that stalled our efforts last year.  I hope that we are past trying to make criminals out of undocumented immigrants.  I hope that we are past trying to make criminals out of the clergy and advocates that try to help hard-working immigrants seeking a better life for their children.  I hope we are past trying to build fences and walls around America and the American dream.  I hope that we are past the anti-immigrant rhetoric and the anti-Hispanic slurs that accompanied the debate and electioneering last year.

We need to keep working to make our legislation one that takes a commonsense, realistic approach to this situation.  I will continue working to produce legislation that treats people with dignity, and respects our great tradition as a welcoming nation.  We have much work to do before this bill becomes worthy of the Senate, and of our great history and tradition as a nation of immigrants.

I will vote to support the Majority Leader’s effort to proceed to debate on comprehensive immigration reform.  I hope that as we move through amendments and debate, the Senate will work toward making this a better bill.  We all know that had we insisted on taking up the Senate-passed bill of last year, we would not have the votes to proceed.  Many who voted for last year’s Senate’s bill were prepared to abandon their support.  The Majority Leader has demonstrated his good faith.  I hope that Senators will join together and work together to produce a bill of which we can be proud and that will honor our parents and grandparents as well as our neighbors and grandchildren.   

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