By Lamar Smith
The Statue of Liberty has long been a symbol of freedom and opportunity around the world. Inscribed at the base is a poem that has welcomed newcomers to the New World for over 100 years.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Millions of individuals have answered the call of Lady Liberty and come to the United States to live the American dream. And millions more dream of one day coming.
Although we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. And there is a right way and wrong way to enter our country. The right way is to play by the rules and wait your turn, not cut in front of the line and ignore the law.
America has the most generous immigration system in the world, admitting 1 million legal immigrants each year. That generosity should continue.
But we must also make sure that our immigration laws protect the interests of American citizens and legal immigrants already in the U.S. Any changes considered by Congress must first secure the border, safeguard our communities and protect American workers.
Unfortunately, the Senate legislation supported by President Barack Obama does exactly the opposite. Rather than taking concrete steps to secure the border, the bill simply calls for a plan. If the border is not secure after five years, a commission is appointed to make recommendations. But plans and recommendations without real enforcement are meaningless.
Also, the Senate proposal legalizes millions of illegal immigrants in just six months. This will flood the market with millions of new workers, costing many Americans their jobs and depressing their wages.
The Senate bill treats illegal immigrants better than those who have played by the rules, waited their turn and come in the right way, as generations have done before them. Individuals in the country illegally get legalized almost immediately. Those who followed the law just have to keep on waiting.
So the Senate bill is amnesty first, enforcement later, if ever. But as we’ve learned from the past, amnesty without enforcement only leads to more illegal immigration.
In 1986, Congress legalized 3 million illegal immigrants and promised border security and interior enforcement to prevent future illegal immigration. The amnesty was granted, but enforcement never came. Now, there are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
There are policies Congress can support that will improve our immigration system without increasing illegal immigration.
•We should establish a guest worker program, especially in the agriculture industry where more workers are needed. Immigrants would be admitted to work in specific areas for a certain period of time.
•We should encourage highly skilled immigration to strengthen our economy and create more jobs. Many foreign students in the U.S. who receive advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math want to contribute their ideas and innovations to our communities and economy. Rather than sending them home to work for our competitors, we should allow them to create new products and jobs here in the U.S.
•We need to address the status of children who were brought to the U.S. illegally at a young age through no fault of their own. They should not be blamed for their parents’ actions. A new visa, not conducive to fraud or chain migration, should be created for them.
•We need to keep families together who are trying to legally immigrate to the U.S. If a legal immigrant is waiting for a spouse with minor children outside the country to receive a visa, they should be allowed to wait for the visa in the U.S.
•We must secure the border, which is critical to our national security. We need to know who is coming in, and why, to help keep our country and communities safe.
But according to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, only 6.5 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border is under full control of the Border Patrol. Without a secure border, millions of individuals will continue to enter illegally.
These common-sense reforms are long overdue.
Congress should consider improvements to our immigration system, but we must do so the right way. That means supporting policies that secure the border, safeguard our communities, prevent illegal immigration and protect American workers. Unfortunately, the Senate proposal fails to achieve any of these goals.
Smith, R-San Antonio, is former cairman of the House Judiciary Committee and serves on the immigration subcommittee.
