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Obama to push immigration overhaul
By New York Times | November 14, 2009

NEW YORK - The Obama administration will insist on measures to give legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants as it pushes early next year for legislation to overhaul the immigration system, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said yesterday.

In her first major speech on the overhaul, Napolitano dispelled any suggestion that the administration would postpone the most contentious piece of immigration legislation until after elections next November.

Laying out the administration’s bottom line, Napolitano said officials will argue for a “three-legged stool’’: tougher enforcement laws against illegal immigrants and employers who hire them, a streamlined system for legal immigration, and a “tough and fair pathway to earned legal status.’’

Speaking at the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy group in Washington, Napolitano unveiled a double-barrel argument for a legalization program, saying it would enhance national security and, as the economy climbs out of recession, protect American workers from unfair competition from lower-paid, easily exploited illegal immigrants.

Under the administration’s plan, illegal immigrants who hope to gain legal status would have to register, pay fines and all taxes they owe, pass a criminal background check, and learn English.



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