Our immigration system is broken, and the evidence is overwhelming. First, 11 million undocumented immigrants are living in the United States. Because they lack legal status, they are outside the scope of the law. We don’t know who they are or in what activities they are involved. Second, we encourage people to break the law and punish those who follow it. Immigrants who attempt to come to this country by legal means find themselves wrapped up in endless paperwork and bureaucracy. The current backlog for family-sponsored visas is so vast that it could take up to 11.5 years for the visa to be processed.
We should reform our immigration system because it will help America. Immigrants contribute to our economy. They started one-fourth of all new businesses in 2011. And immigrant-owned small businesses employ 4.7 million people. In fact, first- or second-generation immigrants founded 40% of all Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Kraft, Google, Yahoo!, and eBay. As a result, the American Action Forum estimates that immigration reform will boost per capita income by $1,700 over ten years and reduce the federal deficit by $2.7 trillion.
Most countries use immigration to strengthen their economies—but we don’t. In the U.S., only 7% of green cards went to work-based immigrants in 2010, but the vast majority of visas in other countries, like Canada and Australia, are directly aimed at work-based immigrants that can boost their economies. We give out visas based on people’s family connections, not their talents or skills. Consequently, we are missing out and falling behind.
We need an immigration system that upholds the rule of law and helps our economy grow
. The Senate has put forward one approach, but I believe the House can do better.
We will not take up the Senate bill in the House. Instead, we should put together our own proposals—which will make our immigration system more accountable, efficient, and effective.
My Principles for Reform I believe four principles should guide our effort:
- First, we need to secure the border. We can’t have a secure country without a secure border.
- Second, we need to enforce our laws. Otherwise, we will repeat the mistakes of the past.
- Third, we need to encourage legal immigration. We need a guest-worker program that meets the needs of our economy, and we need to attract the best and brightest to our shores.
- Fourth, we need to give people a chance to get right with the law. We should welcome anyone who is committed to America. But we should always uphold the rule of law—and be fair to those who followed it. However, no amnesty should be provided.
