WEEKLY ADDRESS: Time to Pass Commonsense Immigration Reform

Remarks of President Barack Obama
The Weekly Address
Mooresville, North Carolina
June 8, 2013

Hi, everybody.  In the next few days, America will take an important step towards fixing our broken immigration system.  The entire United States Senate will begin debating a commonsense immigration reform bill that has bipartisan support.

See, we define ourselves as a nation of immigrants.  The promise we find in those who come from every corner of the globe has always been one of our greatest strengths.  It’s kept our workforce vibrant and dynamic.  It’s kept our businesses on the cutting edge.  And it’s helped build the greatest economic engine the world has ever known. 

 All true … but we are a nation of laws, and the immigration program which has strengthened our nation was a legal one, for those who applied to identified themselves and followed all current rules and regulations – not people who violated our nation’s sovereignty to sneak into our country, disrespect our laws, and then DEMAND (Yes, DEMAND) they be granted citizenship as if they stood in the long line and followed the rules.

But for years, our out-of-date immigration system has actually harmed our economy and threatened our security.

For years, Congress has had the ability to change our laws, rules and regulations. What really is broken is a system that has been corrupted by politicians seeking political advantage by pandering to a class of self-made victims. The system may be out-of-date because our politicians have failed to do their sworn duties. The system is broken because the Obama Administration has subverted the laws – picking and choosing the laws they want to enforce. Thereby, perjuring themselves by failing to adhere to their Oath of Office, and committing crimes relating to aiding and abetting criminal activities.

If there is a security breach, it is because our elected and law enforcement officials refuse to follow and enforce existing laws.

Now, over the past four years, we’ve taken steps to try and patch up some of the worst cracks in the system. 

We strengthened security on the southern border by putting more boots on the ground than at any time in our history.  And, in part, by using technology more effectively – today, illegal crossings are near their lowest level in decades.  

Yes, the size of government has expanded greatly; but we cannot trust those who are reporting the statistics as we have seen that various orders, regarding which illegals are captured, released and reported, are politically based.

As for technology, what happened with those ineffective electronic systems that were designed without input from working border agents? The ones that didn’t work when it rained, there was blowing sand, or malfunctioned for no apparent reason.

Our economy and the job markets have had more of an effect on illegal aliens who are not able to obtain or maintain employment in the United States than government policies. Nobody has quantified self-deportation and the statistics supporting the Administration’s position appear to be cooked.

We focused enforcement efforts on criminals who are here illegally – who endanger our communities – and today, we deport more criminals than ever before.

If the President’s assertions were literally true, why are there significant minority and ethnic gang members operating within our cities. Why does the City of Los Angeles and other so-called sanctuary cities prohibit law enforcement from asking gang members about immigration status or from calling federal officials about suspected immigration violations?

And we took up the cause of “Dreamers,” the young people who were brought to this country as children.  We said that if they’re able to meet certain criteria, we’d consider offering them the chance to come out of the shadows so they can continue to work here, and study here, and contribute to our communities legally. 

Has anyone noticed that these people are not assimilating into America. They speak their own language, live in their own enclaves, eat their own food, and shop at ethnic stores.

But if we’re going to truly fix a broken system, we need Congress to act in a comprehensive way.  And that’s why what’s happening next week is so important.

The bill before the Senate isn’t perfect.  It’s a compromise.  Nobody will get everything they want – not Democrats, not Republicans, not me.  But it is a bill that’s largely consistent with the principles I’ve repeatedly laid out for commonsense immigration reform.

Then why rush a 1000+ page bill through Congress where our representatives do not even read and understand what they are voting on. Where tremendous powers are granted to various unelected officials – and their decisions cannot even be reviewed by the courts. What is this craziness? Proving unlimited power to the executive branch of the government, complete with Congressional permission to allow the executive branch to violate the separation of powers clause and usurp the powers of Congress to make laws.

This from, Barack Obama, a so-called expert on constitutional law?

This bill would continue to strengthen security at our borders, increase criminal penalties against smugglers and traffickers, and hold employers more accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers.  If enacted, it would represent the most ambitious enforcement plan in recent memory.

It is almost unbelievable that the government will strengthen the border if not forced to do it before legalizing illegal aliens.

The politicians were the ones who fought against the mandatory use of e-verify because it wasn’t 100% accurate. Like any government-related project is 100%?

This bill would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are in this country illegally – a pathway that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes and a penalty, and then going to the back of the line behind everyone who’s playing by the rules and trying to come here legally.

This is pure bullshit.

First, we do not even know how many illegals exist in the United States because politicians are afraid to draw a bright line on a given date. Demanding the registration of all illegal aliens present in the United States within a 3-month time period. Anyone failing to register or coming here after registration closes, will be summarily deported. Only then can we make responsible immigration decisions based on the social, economic, and political impact of known quantities.

Second, we need to put significant infrastructure in place. Tamper-proof social security and identification cards. Tracking systems that can be used by employers, financial institutions, and to keep people from overstaying the visa or using multiple identities.

Third, the truth is that many illegal aliens have committed more serious crimes than illegal entry or presence in the United States. Signing official documents under penalty of perjury. The use of forged or stolen documents. Identity theft.

And fourth, considering the naming conventions of foreign nations, we may never be able to accurately track these people if they are allowed to use non-biometric identification.

This bill would modernize the legal immigration system so that, alongside training American workers for the jobs of tomorrow, we’re also attracting highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who will grow our economy.  And so that our people don’t have to wait years before their loved ones are able to join them in this country we love.

Obama is such a bullshitter. The means to modernize the immigration system with off-the-shelf hardware and software has existed for year – but cannot be used for “political” reasons. Ask how financial institutions can verify your identity and bank balance almost anywhere in the world? Ask how FedEx and UPS can track tens of millions of daily packages as they travel through the system.

Training Americans should not even be a consideration at this point in time. And, technology and special skills visas have existed for years. So ask yourself, why import poverty, illiteracy, disease, and crime when we could be allowing people with skills to immigrate?

And, why allow millions more to enter the country automatically because a relative managed to sneak-in to our country? Knowing Obama’s love for homosexuals, consider that life-partners will also be eligible without regard to civil commitments. If these people were so concerned about their loved ones, they would join them and make their own way in the country of their choice.

That’s what immigration reform looks like.  Smarter enforcement.  A pathway to earned citizenship.  Improvements to the legal immigration system.   They’re all commonsense steps.  They’ve got broad support – from Republicans and Democrats, CEOs and labor leaders, law enforcement and clergy.  So there is no reason that Congress can’t work together to send a bill to my desk by the end of the summer. 

Nobody knows what immigration reform looks like because the actual legislation has not been written. And, quoting the corrupt idiot and former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, “you will have to pass the law to see what’s in it.”

There is nothing commonsense about this plan. Else, we would enumerate the illegals, set conversion quotas, demand allegiance to America over a foreign sovereign nation, and add other conditions – and then give them legal residence, not citizenship. Over two decades, the problem of illegals would disappear – if the laws of land were upheld.

We know the opponents of reform are going to do everything they can to prevent that.  They’ll try to stoke fear and create division.  They’ll try to play politics with an issue that the vast majority of Americans want addressed.  And if they succeed, we will lose this chance to finally fix an immigration system that is badly broken.  

This is partisan bullshit … and the exact description of how Obama and his fellow travelers operate.  

So if you agree that now is the time for commonsense reform, reach out to your Representatives.  Tell them we have to get this done so that everyone is playing by the same rules.  Tell them we have the power to do this in a way that lives up to our traditions as a nation of laws, and a nation of immigrants. 

By all means, contact your representatives and demand they enforce the laws on the books before creating new ones. Demand they prosecute those who have broken the law. Demand they count illegal aliens and tell us about the environmental and financial impact of any proposed legislation before it is put forth as a law.

In the end, that’s what this is all about.  Men and women who want nothing more than the chance to earn their way into the American story, just like so many of our ancestors did.  Throughout our history, that has only made us stronger.  And it’s how we’ll make sure that America’s best days always lie ahead. 

Then let them go home – and stand in line like generations of legal immigrants.

Thanks.  And have a great weekend. 

Source: WEEKLY ADDRESS: Time to Pass Commonsense Immigration Reform | The White House