Cong. Hayworth: Introducing ‘The Enforcement First Immigration Reform Act’

GUEST OPINION

Introducing ‘The Enforcement First Immigration Reform Act’

By U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.)
September 29, 2005

America's borders are being overrun by illegal aliens and the blame for this failure rests squarely with the federal government.

If America is truly committed to homeland security, if ours is a nation of laws, and if our sovereign borders are to be respected by the world, then both the White House and the Congress must chart a different course. That course is laid out in the bill we are introducing today, the "Enforcement First Immigration Reform Act of 2005."

There are those who believe the answer to our immigration problems is amnesty in the form of a guest worker plan. They claim that enforcement will never work. But how would they know? Rigorous, consistent enforcement has never been tried.

As the numbers of illegals grew into the millions, efforts to enforce the law actually diminished. For example, in 2004 the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security issued a grand total of only three notices of intent to seek fines against employers for knowingly hiring illegals.

Years of non-enforcement have encouraged those who are here illegally to stay and millions more to come. We must send a different message: zero tolerance of illegal immigration. We will encourage those who are here illegally to leave and discourage others from coming by denying them the opportunity to work illegally.

That same, commonsense approach extends to an overhaul of the present visa system. By giving the highest priority to employment-based visas, we will create a pool of 120,000 new workers annually without increasing the overall number of visas. This bill does not sell entry passes to illegal aliens, as various guest worker proposals would. We welcome only those individuals who are willing to respect our immigration laws.

Americans know and our bill that we need stronger borders, tougher laws, tougher fines and criminal penalties, more vigorous interior enforcement, and more immigration enforcement agents. It is time for the federal government to act accordingly.

We would mobilize a coordinated effort by law enforcement officers at the local, state and national levels to apprehend and deport an estimated 400,000 criminal aliens, including some 80,000 that have been convicted of serious crimes.

And we would cancel the wrong message that unelected officials and regulators in the federal government have been sending. A perfect example is the recent decision directing federally chartered banks and lending institutions to honor foreign-issued identification documents, specifically the Matricula Consular card. That decision was made in the face of warnings from the FBI that national security would be weakened. Apparently, the lessons of 9-11 already have been forgotten.

In crafting this bill, we were determined to be a part of the solution to illegal immigration rather than adding to the problem. That is precisely why you will not find any type of guest worker or temporary worker program in this bill. Those types of experiments have been tried numerous times in the past and there is a reason we have no temporary worker program now – they don’t work. The results have always been more illegals crossing our borders and lower wages for American workers.

Since the president announced his intention to enact a guest worker program in January 2004, our borders have been overrun by illegals looking to get in the country and in line for what they clearly perceive as amnesty. The Enforcement First Immigration Reform Act avoids that catastrophic mistake.

This bill offers a sweeping and comprehensive plan. It incorporates several good ideas put forward by my colleagues. By joining forces, it is our hope and intention that this bill will serve as a rallying point for the overwhelming majority of Americans that are dedicated to creating an effective, commonsense approach to immigration.

We are under no illusions about the difficulty of our task. Powerful self-interest factions are preparing an all-out, big money campaign to pressure Congress into accepting the same old amnesty approach that has failed before. They offer corporate welfare in the form of a never-ending supply of cheap labor. They offer big labor the possibility of hundreds of thousands of new members. And some Republicans are ready to join Democrats in a craven, shortsighted battle to see which party can build the greater political power base out of the anticipated huge influx of Hispanic voters.

If we leave this issue to the powerful self-interest groups in Washington, the opportunity to heal and strengthen our broken immigration system will be lost for generations and perhaps forever. That is why our “Enforcement First” approach is more than a legislative proposal; it is a national call for action. Our goal is to inspire the American people to rise up and demand that Congress enact an immigration policy that strengthens our borders, makes our nation more secure, and honors our abiding commitment to the rule of law.