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Skriven 2007-05-29 23:31:18 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0705297) for Tue, 2007 May 29
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President Bush Discusses Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Glynco,
Georgia
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary May 29, 2007

President Bush Discusses Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Glynco,
Georgia Tom Steed Building Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Glynco,
Georgia

˙ /news/releases/2007/05/20070529-7.wm.v.html ˙˙Presidential Remarks
˙˙Audio ˙˙En Espa¤ol

˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: Securing the Border First ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Immigration

11:31 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Please be seated --
unless, of course, you don't have a chair. Thanks for having me. I'm
honored to be here at the headquarters of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center.

I don't know whether you realize this, or not, but the government
originally planned to open this center inside the Capital Beltway. No one
looks very sad that they didn't open it inside the Capital Beltway.
(Laughter.) It's a spectacular place to have this center. It is a glorious
place to live. I'm honored to be in your presence. Thanks for letting me
come by and share some thoughts with you.

I want to thank Director Patrick for her strong leadership and her kind
introduction. I appreciate very much the tour I have just taken. A lot of
our fellow citizens probably don't know what goes on here, but this is a
center full of smart, capable instructors who are helping to train men and
women who've volunteered to serve our country on the front lines of
protecting the homeland. I am grateful to be in your midst. I thank those
of you who work here; I thank those of you who are being trained here; and
I thank your families, as well.

We have a mission, a vital mission, and that's to protect our country. And
you all are on the front lines of that protection. And it gives me great
confidence when I meet you to tell the American people there's a lot of
decent souls doing everything they can to provide security for the American
people. So, thanks.

I appreciate the folks at FLETC that I met that are working the border and
helping train people to secure this border of ours. And I've come today not
only to thank you, but to talk about immigration. Immigration is a vital
issue facing this country. And the fundamental question is, will elected
officials have the courage necessary to put a comprehensive immigration
plan in place that makes it more likely we can enforce our border and, at
the same time, uphold the great traditions of -- immigrant traditions of
the United States of America. And that's what I want to discuss with you.

Before I do, I do want to introduce some people. I want to introduce
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez -- I appreciate you coming, Mr.
Secretary. (Applause.) Carlos wasn't born here, see. He was born in another
country -- Cuba. And now he sits in the Cabinet of the President of the
United States. There's something great about a country that welcomes
people, people who uphold our laws and realize the great blessings of
America.

With us, as well, is Senator Mel Martinez. He wasn't born in America. He's
a Senator from Florida. He was born in Cuba. I don't know if you know his
story, but his mother and father put him on an airplane to come to the
United States of America, to be raised by total strangers because they
didn't want their son to grow up under a tyrant named Fidel Castro. He used
to sit in the Cabinet of the President of the United States; now he sits in
the United States Senate. What a wonderful country it is, where people can
come to live in a country based upon liberty, and realize the great
blessings of our country.

And I want to mention those two men because, to me, they represent what the
immigration debate is all about: Will we be a welcoming place, a place of
law, that renews our spirit by giving people a chance to succeed?

So, Senator, thank you for coming, as well. (Applause.)

I saved the other two traveling with me because they were born here --
starting with the United States Senator from Georgia, a south Georgian
named Saxby Chambliss, one of the finest senators in the United States
Senate. (Applause.)

Finally, I asked Secretary Mike Chertoff to leave the bench to become the
Director of the Department of Homeland Security. It's a big job. It's a job
that requires organizing various agencies under one task, and that's to
provide protection to the American people. Secretary Chertoff is doing a
fine job. I'm glad he's joined us today. Thanks for coming, Mr. Secretary.
(Applause.)

I thank all the state and local officials here who have joined us. I
appreciate you taking time to come over and say hello. I thank the citizens
from this part of the world who have joined us, as well. Thanks for
supporting this good institution. I know you know this, but FLETC provides
an important role for this country of ours, and I thank you for supporting
it.

Before I talk about immigration, I do want to offer condolences for Agent
Robert Smith. He died last week from injuries in a helicopter crash. He was
a Customs and Border Protection agent. He reminds us on a regular basis
that those who are on the front line of protecting the country take danger
as a part of their job. And, therefore, we offer our deepest condolences
for Robert Smith's family and his friends, and we ask for God's blessings
on them.

Our nation depends on our federal agents to enforce our immigration laws at
the border and across the country. You've got a big job to do; we're
counting on you to enforce those laws. And when you graduate from FLETC,
you're going to be an important part of that role. That's why you're here;
it's to upgrade your skills so you have the capacity to do the job the
country expects you to do. You're going to safeguard our ports of entry,
you'll investigate workplace immigration violations, and you'll arrest
those breaking the law. We are a nation of laws, and we expect people to
keep the laws. And if they break the laws, there will be a consequence.

This administration of mine is committed to ensuring that our federal
agents have the resources you need to carry out your responsibilities. For
some of the older hands here -- I'm not going to pick you out of the crowd
-- I'm sure you will tell some of the younger folks that things have
changed significantly over the past years. One way to measure how things
have changed is look at the budget. We've doubled the funding for border
security since I took office. We now spend $10 billion a year to protect
this border. One commitment to the American people that we're serious about
helping you do your job is to spend more money on the job. It's a way to
measure whether or not our -- we're meeting our words with commitment. And
we are.

We've used additional money. People say, what are you spending it on? Well,
we're expanding the number of Border Patrol agents from about 9,000 to
13,000, and by the end of -- we have expanded it -- and by the end of 2008,
we're going to have 18,000 agents. We will have more than doubled the
Border Patrol in a relatively quick period of time. We believe the more
manpower is on the border, the more likely it is we'll be able to enforce
the border, like the American people expect us to do.

We're investing in new technology, we're strengthening infrastructure. In
other words, we've taken our duty seriously to protect the border of the
United States of America. As a matter of fact, we take it so seriously that
I asked the governors to put some National Guard troops down there until
our Border Patrol agents got trained.

And we're beginning to see some results. In this immigration debate,
oftentimes people say, well, they're not doing anything to protect the
border. Well, that's not -- those folks just simply don't know what's going
on. You do. Men and women who wear the uniform understand what's going on.
There's a focused, concerted effort to enforce our border.

As a matter of fact, you can tell when the border is better defended
because the number of arrests go down. In other words, when people know
there's a consequence to trying to sneak across, there's less likely to be
people sneaking across. Arrests have gone down by 27 percent over the past
year on the southern border. That's a sign of progress. It should say to
the American people that we're doing what the people expect us to do.

The new infrastructure is making a difference. The Predators make a
difference. The number of Border Patrol agents make a difference. I don't
know if any of you spent time out in Artesia, New Mexico, if you're working
for the Border Patrol, but I was impressed with boot camp. And they're
training these Border Patrol agents to do the hard work that the American
people expect them to do.

One of the problems we had prior to the administration addressing the
problem was we had what was called -- what happened was called catch and
release. You had your Border Patrol working hard, finding somebody trying
to sneak into our country illegally, they'd catch him, and then they say,
well, you know, look, you need to come back for your hearing; we're going
to let you out, but come back for your hearing. Well, the problem was, the
people didn't want to come back for their hearing. They generally wanted to
go work. And so they would just disappear.

And it discouraged our Border Patrol agents. I talked to too many agents
and heard too many stories about people saying, wait a minute, I'm tired of
doing my job on the front line of protecting the border only to have the
people that I have stopped coming in meld into our society.

And so we worked with Congress and we've got a lot of detention facilities
now along the border. We didn't have space before. Now we do have space.
And as a result, catch and release has virtually been eliminated. It sends
a strong -- getting rid of the catch and release program sends a strong
signal to people: If you come to the country, we will find you, and we're
going to send you home, so don't try to come in the first place.

In other words, we're working hard to enforce the border. And we're
stepping up enforcement inside the country. I see a lot of ICE hats. These
are the folks that are charged with making sure that people who knowingly
hire somebody who's here illegally pay a price. In other words, part of
making sure our country is a rule of law, we've got to have people enforce
the law. It's against the law to hire somebody who is here illegally.
That's the law. And we're training people here to make sure that they know
how to enforce that law. And the message to employers, if you're hiring
somebody here that you know is illegal, we're going to -- there's a
consequence to be paid. That's what a nation that bases it's system on rule
of law does. That's what we'll continue to do.

And ICE is active. Your folks are working hard. ICE investigations have led
to more than 3,000 arrests for immigration violations since the beginning
of this fiscal year; nearly 600 arrests for criminal violations, including
fraud and identity theft; and nearly $30 million in penalties against
businesses that have violated the law.

We're working hard to enforce the border. The immigration debate, you hear
people say, well, they're not doing anything to enforce the border. They're
wrong, and you know they're wrong. And I'm here to thank you for doing --
for working as hard as you can.

And now we've got to build on the progress. It's important for our American
citizens to understand that the immigration system is in desperate need for
comprehensive reform. And Congress has a historic window to act. The system
isn't working. Think about a system that encourages smugglers to stuff
people in 18-wheelers, people that want to work, people that want to
provide for their families. Think about a system in which there's
tremendous document forgery.

You've got a person out here in south Georgia who needs somebody to help
them on their farm. The person shows up with documents. They don't know
whether they're real, or not. There's a lot of forgery going on. We've got
people -- in my judgment, this isn't what America should be about. And yet
the system is broken to the point where people are being used as human
cargo, being exploited, simply because most want to come and provide for
their families; most are willing to do jobs Americans aren't doing. The
system needs to be fixed.

I appreciate the Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate,
starting with Saxby Chambliss and Mel Martinez, who put politics aside and
put courage first to work on a comprehensive bill. It takes a lot of
courage in the face of some of the criticism in the political world to do
what's right, not what's comfortable. And what's right is to fix this
system now before it's too late. And I thank you two for your courage.
(Applause.)

And Carlos and Mike Chertoff spent a lot of time sitting with the senators
from both political parties. I don't know if you're tired of it, but a lot
of Americans are simply tired of this endless political bickering, that we
can't work together because it might make somebody else look good. I tried
to change the system. It's not working. (Applause.) So I sent the two
Secretaries in there with the senators from both parties, and said, okay,
why don't we sit down and see if we can't figure something -- something
that's good for the country. Each side is going to have to give a little
bit. Not everybody is going to get everything they want, but what matters
more is fixing the problem now.

And we're making some progress. Most Americans -- many Americans say their
primary concern is border security and ensuring that those who violate our
laws face consequences. That's what you're hearing out there when you're
listening to the debate.

Others say their chief concern is keeping this economy strong. There's a --
a lot of employers need a legal way to fill jobs that Americans simply
aren't doing. There's a lot of jobs here in Georgia that require people
from -- that are willing to do the work that Americans aren't doing. It's
just the way it is.

You talk to your farmer friends, or your nursery friends -- I remember the
peach grower, Saxby, that you sent over to the White House. He's there
saying to me, you've got to understand something, Mr. President, my
business won't go forward unless I have some of these good people that are
willing to work long hours in my peach orchard helping me harvest the crop.
So a lot of people in this debate are concerned about getting a bill in
place that will help keep the economy growing.

Others say their main concern is to bring hardworking, decent people out of
the shadows of our society. All of these concerns are part of the same
issue, and it's important for American citizens to understand that the
legislation now before Congress addresses them all as one. Our view is, is
that you can't solve the problem unless you address all aspects of the
problem. We've tried to address immigration reform in the past by talking
about only one aspect of immigration reform. To make it work, to address
the concerns of the American people, there must be a comprehensive
approach.

A lot of Americans are skeptical about immigration reform primarily because
they don't think the government can fix the problems. And my answer to the
skeptics is, give us a chance to fix the problems in a comprehensive way
that enforces our border and treats people with decency and respect. Give
us a chance to fix this problem. Don't try to kill this bill before it gets
moving. Give us a chance to make it easier for the folks who wear the
uniform along our borders to do their job.

I believe the bill before Congress learns from the mistakes of the past. It
is the best hope for lasting reform. If people are interested in fixing a
system that's broken, this bill is the best hope to do so. It answers the
longstanding concerns of the American people. It deserves widespread
support. And I strongly back it.

If you're serious about securing our borders, it makes sense to support
legislation that makes enforcement our highest priority. And that's what
this bill does. For decades, we have not been in complete control of the
borders, and many people have lost faith in our capacity to get control of
the borders. I ask them to look at what's taken place over the past years,
recent years. I wish they could talk to some of your Border Patrol friends,
and talk about the advances that have been made and the good work they're
doing down there.

The first step to comprehensive reform must be to enforce immigration laws
at the borders and at work sites across America. And this is what this bill
does. For the skeptics who say that we're not concerned about border
security or workplace enforcement, they need to read the bill. The bill
prioritizes enforcing our laws at the border, and saying to employers,
we'll hold you to account for employing somebody who's here illegally --
knowingly employing somebody who's here illegally.

This bill sets enforcement benchmarks that have got to be met before other
aspects of the comprehensive bill are triggered. In other words, there has
to be certain accomplishments in place before other aspects of the bill
come into being. And here are some of those markers: Increasing the number
of Border Patrol agents. We said we're going to double them; they've got to
get doubled, until other aspects of the bill come into being. We're going
to build miles of state-of-the-art fencing. We're going to improve
surveillance with advanced technologies. We will do a better job of holding
employers accountable for the workers they hire.

Most employers want to comply with the law. The peach grower wanted to
comply with the law. Believe me, he's a law-abiding, decent man. His
attitude is, why don't you help me verify the legal status of a potential
employee, as opposed to holding me to account -- which we will do, of
course, if he knowingly hires somebody -- give me a hand with the
verification system.

And that's why we're going to promote tamper-resistant identification
cards. In other words, if you're here working, you're going to have a card
that you can't tamper with, that some document forger can't foist off as a
document for somebody to come and pick peaches here in Georgia.

In other words, we've got a serious attempt in this bill, and a real
attempt, to do what a lot of Americans want us to do, and that's enforce
the border. If you're serious about keeping our economy strong, it's makes
sense to support legislation that gives foreign workers a legal path to
jobs in America. There are people doing jobs here Americans aren't doing.

The peach man said to me, he said, I can't find somebody from my home town
who wants to pick peaches, but I can find somebody who wants to put food on
their table for a family from Mexico, for example. It seems to me it makes
sense to give those people a chance to come and work here on a temporary
basis. This bill says, temporary, it means temporary. You'll be here for a
number of years, and you'll go back home. That's what a temporary worker
plan does. In the meantime, it helps meet the needs of our economy.

This bill -- aspect of the bill will allow federal agents to focus on
apprehending violent criminals and terrorists who are a threat to our
country rather than people who want to work here. In other words, if you
can come to our country on a temporary basis legally, you're not going to
sneak across the border. Who wants to pay a coyote hundreds of dollars, or
thousands of dollars, when you can walk across, and say, I'm going to have
a temporary job here in this country, and here's my tamper -- my
tamper-resistant card?

If you're interested in securing the border, wouldn't you rather have
Border Patrol agents chasing down terrorists and gun runners and dope
runners as opposed to people who are coming to do jobs Americans aren't
doing? A temporary worker plan, that is truly temporary, is going to make
it easier for us to enforce the border. Border enforcement and having a
rational worker plan go hand-in-hand. And that's what the American people
have got to understand.

A temporary worker program will not begin until our border security
measures are in place, and until we have a reliable system for verifying
employment eligibility. That's the way the bill works. Oh, I'm sure you've
heard some of the talk out there about people defining the bill. It's clear
they hadn't read the bill. They're speculating about what the bill says,
and they're trying to rile up people's emotions. This is a good piece of
legislation. It addresses the border security needs, and it addresses the
employment needs of our country.

If you're serious about bringing hardworking illegal immigrants out of the
shadows of our society, it makes sense to support legislation that will
resolve their status without animosity, and without amnesty.

Others -- I don't -- they estimate 11 million to 12 million people have
been here for, some, quite a while. They're in an underground in America.
It's not right, as far as I'm concerned. That's not what this country
stands for. I know there are some people out there hollering and saying,
kick them out. That is simply unrealistic. It won't work. There are some
people saying, give them automatic citizenship. I oppose that. It won't
work. I don't think it makes any sense to do that.

Amnesty is forgiveness for being here without any penalties -- that's what
amnesty is. I oppose it. The authors -- many of the authors of this bill
oppose it. This bill is not an amnesty bill. If you want to scare the
American people, what you say is, the bill is an amnesty bill. It's not an
amnesty bill. That's empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our
fellow citizens. People in Congress need the courage to go back to their
districts and explain exactly what this bill is all about, in order to put
comprehensive immigration reform in place.

Let me explain how it works. Under the bill, those who want to stay in our
country who have been here can apply for a Z visa. At some point in time,
those who are coming to work will get temporary work visas. Those who have
been here already can apply for a Z visa. To receive the visa, illegal
workers must admit they violated the law and pay a meaningful penalty, pass
a strict background check, hold a job, maintain a clean record, and
eventually earn English -- learn English. That's how it works.

It says, if you want to be here, here's what you have to do. There is a
consequence for having broken the law. As a result of a recent Senate
amendment, they have to pay back taxes if they haven't paid taxes, too.
You're working hard, you pay taxes. People who have been here in this
country ought to pay taxes. That's what it says.

The hurdles to citizenship are going to be even higher. In other words, if
somebody says, fine, I'll take my Z visa, I'm out of the shadows now, I've
got an opportunity to not hide in America. I'll continue doing the work I'm
doing, I'm going to keep my record clean. I'll pay the penalties necessary
so I can stay here -- that's what it says -- but if you want to be a
citizen, there's more hurdles. It says, the Z visa worker would first have
to pay an additional fine. In other words, you have broken the law and
there's a consequence for breaking the law. That's what the bill says.

Secondly, you've got to return home to file an application for your green
card. If you want to be a citizen, you pay a fine, you touch base home to
apply for a green card, and then you take your place behind those who have
played by the rules and have been waiting in line, patiently, to become a
citizen.

This is a good bill. It recognizes that we've got to treat people with
respect, and it also recognizes we're a nation of law. And as we go
forward, the legislation creates a new system for admitting new immigrants
to our country, people who want to come here legally. The system is going
to reward applicants based upon skills and education, in addition to family
ties, so we can ensure America continues to have the world's most talented
work force.

This legislation is also going to help newcomers assimilate into our
society. One of the great aspects of American society is people have been
able to assimilate.

You know, I was at the Coast Guard Academy the other day, giving a speech
there, and the president of the class, a Latino, talked with great pride in
his voice about the fact that this grandfather was a migrant to the United
States of America, and here he is addressing the Coast Guard Academy. I
think it speaks volumes about the great promise of America. One of the
reasons why is because his family assimilated into our society and into our
culture. The key to unlocking the full promise of America is the ability to
speak English. That's the language of our country. If you can speak English
in this country and work hard and have dreams, you can make it. That's the
great story of America. I believe it's true today like it was true
yesterday, as well.

We expect opportunities to help -- we will expand opportunities to help new
immigrants learn the language, learn about the ideals that make us a
wonderful country. If you're serious about reform, it makes sense to
support comprehensive legislation that addresses all aspects of the
problem. You cannot solve the problem unless we address all aspects of the
problem at the same time.

This reform is complex. There's a lot of emotions around this issue.
Convictions run deep. Those determined to find fault with this bill will
always be able to look at a narrow slice of it and find something they
don't like. If you want to kill the bill, if you don't want to do what's
right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it, you can use it
to frighten people. Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once
and for all, so the people who wear the uniform in this crowd can do the
job we expect them to do.

Now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform. Now is the time for
members of both political parties to stand up and show courage, and take a
leadership role and do what's right for America.

Thanks for letting me come by, and God bless. (Applause.)

END 12:01 P.M. EDT

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