Darn it, we need amnesty

In 2006 and 2007, I was a part of an effort to push for a federal, comprehensive approach to fix our system, secure our nation’s borders and institute tough, fair measures to govern our immigration process. The Senate passed a bill in 2006 that, unfortunately, the House refused to consider. And in 2007, mischaracterizations of our effort by the bill’s opponents drove away some of the moderate Republicans who wanted to find common ground. President Bush supported this legislation. We spent more time on the issue of immigration in the 109th and 110th Congresses than any other because I felt it was that important. Three years later, it is no less important and still must be addressed. That’s why, led by Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and building upon the bipartisan negotiations he has led for a year, Senate Democrats recently unveiled an outline of concrete ideas to move this dialogue forward – and we asked Senate Republicans to join us.

Immigration reform is vital to ensuring our national security. We need a system in place to prevent people from crossing our borders without our knowledge or permission. To achieve this, we should implement the most advanced border-control technologies. While this infrastructure is put in place, we need to deploy additional personnel to the border to bolster our apprehension capabilities. We have to improve our system of tracking people entering the United States on legal visas and ensure their deportation if they overstay their welcome. This now is not being done.