Posted on 06/19/2012 4:03:53 PM PDT by mdittmar
Democrats Stand Ready to Work With Republicans on Permanent Fix Whenever Republicans Decide Fixing The System Is More Important Than Partisan Politics
Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid spoke on the Senate floor today regarding Republican hypocrisy on immigration reform and the DREAM Act. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
Republicans in Congress are fond of complaining that this country’s immigration system is broken. They’re less interested in working with Democrats to fix it.
No one disagrees that America’s immigration system needs repair.
But every time Democrats offer to work together on comprehensive immigration reform, Republicans find an excuse to fight sensible change.
And every time Democrats propose bipartisan legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for children brought here illegally through no fault of their own, Republicans find an excuse to oppose our practical reforms.
There is no better illustration of Republicans’ hypocrisy than their phony outrage over the weekend.
On Friday, President Obama announced the Administration would suspend deportation of upstanding young people brought here illegally as children – provided they attend college or serve in the military.
More than 800,000 young people who have done well in school and stayed out of trouble will benefit from this policy – and hopefully go on to be productive members of society.
In the past, Republicans have expressed broad support for the principles of President Obama’s directive.
And Senator Marco Rubio, the Junior Senator from Florida, has even talked up a similar idea to the press for months, although he never actually produced a proposal.
Yet Republicans’ glowing expressions of support for the President’s decision were not forthcoming. Instead, Republicans have cried about the way the directive was issued.
They prefer a long-term solution. They don’t like the timing. They should have been consulted, and an issue this important should have been left to Congress.
The complaints are varied, but they have one thing in common: none of them actually take issue with the substance of President Obama’s directive.
Leading Republican voices on immigration have yet to actually disagree with the decision.
They just don’t like the way President Obama made the decision – or that he will get the credit for bringing out of the shadows 800,000 trustworthy young men and women who know no other home but the United States.
But Republicans are right about one thing. President Obama’s directive is not a permanent solution – it’s a temporary fix.
So I remind my colleagues in both Houses of Congress – the next move is ours.
This reprieve for DREAMers shouldn’t be seen as a free pass for Congress.
Instead we should see it as a chance for Democrats and Republicans to work together on a lasting answer to the serious shortfalls of our broken immigration system.
And as we work, we’ll have the benefit of knowing the specter of deportation no longer hangs over the heads of hundreds of thousands of young people.
So now is hardly the time to walk away from the DREAM Act, which would have created a pathway to citizenship for young people brought to the country through no fault of their own.
And it’s certainly no time to abandon calls for comprehensive immigration reform that’s tough, fair and practical.
But that’s exactly what Republicans are doing – they’re taking their marbles and going home.
Since Friday, leading Republican voices on immigration reform have all but ceded the debate until after the election.
Republicans who once favored a permanent solution for America’s broken immigration system are now abandoning efforts to find common ground.
And the same Republicans who complained they weren’t involved enough in the President’s decision are now giving up any involvement in the broader immigration conversation.
It makes you wonder whether they were ever really committed to passing the DREAM Act or tackling comprehensive immigration reform.
After all, Senate Republicans have twice had their chance to vote for the DREAM Act. Both times they filibustered the measure.
So perhaps it should come as no surprise that my Republican colleagues are more interested in complaining about a system that’s broken, than in working with Democrats to fix it.
What's your next move harry?,you are running out of our money;)
P.S. harry,First law on holes - when you're in one,stop digging!
oops Harry ,sounds like you’re trying to use immigration as a distraction
Reid is nothing more than King Obama’s court jester.
The way to fix the broken immigration laws is to deport the people who break the immigration laws. The laws are not the problem. Lack of enforcement is the problem.
Harry’s idea of fixing the system is to take the
door off the hinges and throw away the key.
Enforce the laws...there, fixed.
Get rid of them.
Whenever Liberals (in both parties) talk about “fixing immigration system”....it is code for “Amnesty”
System ain’t broke....just enforce the laws
“comprehensive immigration reform”
Amnesty? No thanks, you scrawny little fag.
What’s to fix? Just enforce the existing laws
1. Build the fence, patrol the fence, survey the fence
2. E-Verify
3. SSN checks to root out ID theft by illegals
4. Random sweeps
5. Inspect employers for illegals and punish violators
6. Work with the states instead of suing them (unified front)
7. Apply pressure to sanctuary cities/states
8. Voter ID laws
9. Investigate welfare cheating by illegals
10. Enforce the laws already on the books
11. Jail time!!!!
In effect, you “sour the milk” and make illegals self deport. It’s worked, even when a modicum of enforcement is applied (see Alabama). Sometimes the mere hint of “will this be the day I get caught/discovered” is enough.
If you have a harder time finding work, can’t get the cover as you did in the past, feel you have to look over your shoulder, it’s a deterrent. Psychological is just as important as physical.
Once you secure the system, THEN and only THEN do you start the debate on immigration (how many, who, skill sets and what restrictions). If the legal process needs more money/materials then so be it.
Like where your going with E-Verify and random sweeps. I say large fine first time you are found hiring a illegal. Jail time and fine second offense. Prison third offense. Doing this you won’t have to deport anyone. They will self-deport.
LDS Cult headquartes in Salt Lake City ordered "mercy" for (tithe paying) illegals some time back, Ried is doing exaclt what he's been told by his true masters, just like Romney will.
Sounds to me like he’s admitting the system is broke..then fix it !
The immigration system is not broken! ENFORCEMENT of the immigration system is broken. Just enforce existing laws - FIXED!
Your post 13 is precisely the answer.
It isn’t a complicated problem. Secure the border. Enforce the law. Let the chips fall.
Fail to secure the border, and nothing will work. Secure the border, enforce existing law, and over time the problem resolves itself. As you say, and as we have already seen, people “deport” themselves. They see they have no future here and they go home.
Another thing; before, people would get deported and would be back within a couple of days. Thats not so easy anymore. They get deported now, coming back is harder all the time. As it should be. Complete the fence, as they ought to have done 5 years ago, and return trips will drop to nearly nothing.
I thought the Republicans fixed it in 1986? And then the Democrats just did what they wanted to after that anyhow.
Reid is right on this one. Republicans don’t have an interest in fixing it. Conservatives do.
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