U.S. Representative Silvertre Reyes on C-SPAN
Article Launched: 05/08/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Some blame undocumented immigrants for the current immigration conundrum. Others blame the employers who offer them jobs. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes has another culprit: the U.S. Congress.
"If you've been on the (U.S. Rep. Tom) Tancredo-(CNN anchor) Lou Dobbs-'Broken Borders' camp, you hear, 'How dare these immigrants who are here illegally ask for anything?' That side is missing a fundamental part of the problem, which is Congress. People have been blaming the symptoms instead of the disease, which is Congress. This particular buck stopped right square in the middle of Congress. We have failed," Reyes, D-Texas, said during an interview with the El Paso Times last week.
Reyes said that Congress failed to fund the employer enforcement part of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act and failed to prioritize border security. Congress and the administration also failed to provide ways for immigrants to get jobs legally. These failures, he said, encouraged more men, women and children to migrate to the United States illegally.
The congressman, who spoke on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" last Thursday about the need for 10,000 additional Border Patrol agents, said that immigration reform should have three components -- border security, a guest-worker program and legalization for some of the millions of undocumented immigrants who live in the United States.
Short of that, Reyes said the country was better off with no new legislation at all.
Senators were confident late last month that they could agree on a comprehensive bill by Memorial Day and that immigration reform, which has failed to materialize for several years now, could see the light of day by the end of the year.
A bipartisan compromise that included a guest worker program, legalization and border security seemed possible, but collapsed last month when the Democratic leadership pulled out, fearing that Republican amendments would turn the bill upside down. Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, both Republicans, opposed the compromise.
The House already passed its version of immigration reform, HR 4437, also called the Sensenbrenner bill after its sponsor, U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner,
R-Wis. That bill contains no legalization and no guest-worker program. Reyes, who voted against the bill, said that version of immigration reform has no chance of becoming law because of controversial elements such as a border wall and the criminalization of undocumented immigrants.
"I think what happened was that the issue (immigration) was hijacked by the increased (opinion) polling the Republicans were doing and the opportunity they thought they had by focusing solely on border security," Reyes said.
He called the bill "mean spirited" and not "serious legislation."
"It was criminalizing immigrants, which I thought was outrageous, and required immediate incarceration, which I thought was foolish because we don't have the space," he said. "The Senate took a broader, more responsible viewpoint."
After the Senate passes its bill, a committee will have to reconcile the two proposals.
Reyes credited the shift between the House approach and what appears to be a less punitive approach by the Senate partly to the pro-immigrant rallies that swept the nation these past two months.
But he said he felt that as rallies and boycotts continued last week, "we're losing focus on the issue. The issue is immigration reform, not the boycotts."
Reyes also opposed the Republican version of the guest-worker program, which would have undocumented immigrants leave the United States to apply for the program back in their home countries.
"They are envisioning immigrants leaving in an exodus, perhaps finding an illegal immigrant Moses to lead them out of the country," Reyes said, derisively. "It's patently unfair, undemocratic that to the people who are in this country, who work, who have children fighting in Iraq, we say, 'You have to leave.'"
Louie Gilot may be reached at Email: lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.
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http://www.reyesblog.com/blog_detail.sstg?id=44
May 5, 2006
2:04 PM
Congressman Reyes on CNN-Lou Dobbs to talk about H.R. 98, immigration
Congressman Reyes was on Lou Dobbs' CNN show last night along with Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier talking about H.R. 98, the Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act. The bill, which would modernize the social security card by making it tamper-resistant and increase penalties on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, is part of the Congressman's comprehensive vision for immigration reform. Congressman Reyes and Chairman Dreier are the bill's sponsors.
In a debate that too often inspires unedited emotion instead of considered policy ideas, Congressman Reyes' commonsense, compassionate approach to immigration and border security has won him plaudits and support from people across the ideological spectrum. The Congressman sees immigration reform as a three-legged stool. To succeed, it's neccessary to step up border enforcement resources, create a guest worker program, and establish a pathway to earned citizenship. If one leg is removed, the entire stool will come crashing down.
Here's an excerpt from the transcript. Enjoy the whole text "below the fold."
DOBBS: Twenty-six years in the Border Patrol, 10,000 over the next five years called forth in the legislation of 2005, 10,000 would be added under your proposal. We have just about 7,000 miles of border in this country. How many do you believe we need and -- how many border patrolmen, and why in the world don't we have them?
REYES: Well, we've got right now on duty about 11,300 or so. In the next five years we want to add another 10,000. The 10,000 that we're adding with HR-98 actually would be work site compliance law enforcement officers, so in total, it would be about 30,000.
Since I've been in Congress -- and I've been in Congress now, this is my 10th year -- I've been advocating that we add 1,500 to 2,000 Border Patrol agents a year until we get to 20,000 and then reevaluate and see what kind of a job they've been able to do at that point.
So I hope we continue to hire the Border Patrol agents that we've said we're going to in the next five years, and I hope we pass this legislation, because it will give us the one-two punch that we need.
DOBBS: Right. Supply and demand.
REYES: Absolutely.
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SEGMENT TRANSCRIPT:
In Washington D.C. tonight, two Congressmen have introduced important legislation that would finally crack down on employers in this country of illegal aliens.
And joining me tonight, Congressman David Dreier of California, Congressman Silvestre Reyes of Texas. Their legislation would give employers new tools to verify employment status of their workforces and greatly raise the penalties for employers who still knowingly employ illegal aliens. Gentlemen, thanks for being here.
Always good to be with you, Lou.
REP. SILVESTRE REYES (D), TEXAS: Glad to be here.
DOBBS: The legislation you entered would, for the first time, put substantial penalties on employers. Now there are -- I've been talking with a lot of illegal alien amnesty advocates, open borders advocates and they say you really can't stop this. Do you believe that this would be successful, Congressman Reyes?
REYES: Absolutely. What we do with HR-98 is that we provide a counterfeit -- as much as you can, a counterfeit Social Security card that also provides a network, where the employers can check and verify an individual, and the status of the individual, so we think it's a major step forward for the pull factor that draws people into this country.
DOBBS: And the fines, Congressman Dreier, $50,000, five years in jail, under what circumstances?
REP. DAVID DREIER (R), CALIFORNIA: What we do, Lou, is -- and I've actually got a facsimile of our counterfeit-proof Social Security card that Silvestre Reyes and I have introduced. We introduced this really about a year-and-a-half ago and it's something that I'm hoping very much we'll have included in any legislation that moves forward.
Why? Because virtually everything that we've done here to fore focuses on the supply side, strategic fencing, increasing the size of the border patrol where Silver used to work and all. What we need to do is focus on demand.
As you and I have discussed in the past, it is jobs, the magnet that draws people across the border illegally and what we do here is, is there would be this opportunity for the potential employer to swipe this card and then it would go into a central bank. This is not a national I.D. card, but anyone looking for a new job would get this.
What we'd do is as we increase from $10,000 to $50,000, a 400 percent increase in the fine and five years in prison for hiring. But you know, Lou, you regularly talk about this, the issue of enforcement.
We also include hiring 10,000 enforcement agents and that, I believe, will play a big role with a few high profile finings and imprisonments. It'll be like the IRS. I know you pay your taxes, Lou, simply because you're a very patriotic American.
Some people out there pay their taxes because the IRS might be on them. If we were to see a few arrests like the ones that we've seen in the past, I think we'll see a great reduction in the number of people who are out there hiring illegals.
DOBBS: Silvestre, as Congressman Dreier suggested, you spent, as I recall, 26 years -- is that right -- in the Border Patrol?
REYES: Twenty-six-and-a-half years.
DOBBS: Twenty -- I missed it by a half.
REYES: Just a half. Close enough.
DOBBS: Twenty-six years in the Border Patrol, 10,000 over the next five years called forth in the legislation of 2005, 10,000 would be added under your proposal. We have just about 7,000 miles of border in this country. How many do you believe we need and -- how many border patrolmen, and why in the world don't we have them?
REYES: Well, we've got right now on duty about 11,300 or so. In the next five years we want to add another 10,000. The 10,000 that we're adding with HR-98 actually would be work site compliance law enforcement officers, so in total, it would be about 30,000.
Since I've been in Congress -- and I've been in Congress now, this is my 10th year -- I've been advocating that we add 1,500 to 2,000 Border Patrol agents a year until we get to 20,000 and then reevaluate and see what kind of a job they've been able to do at that point.
So I hope we continue to hire the Border Patrol agents that we've said we're going to in the next five years, and I hope we pass this legislation, because it will give us the one-two punch that we need.
DOBBS: Right. Supply and demand.
REYES: Absolutely.
DOBBS: Supply and demand, and it is remarkable that the same corporate executives and leaders of corporate America that are hiring illegal aliens defend higher gas prices by spouting off supply and demand, but will not suggest that the impact of 12 million illegal immigrants in this country would have an influence on our wage levels.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: I'm sorry.
DREIER: I believe that this card will go a long way toward something ...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: All right, but let me get to the next question. You said that they call this a day without an immigrant, if we could see the Congressman's quotes, "a day without an immigrant. I'm honestly insulted," you said. "We are all products of immigration. It'd be great if we could have a day, a week, a year without illegal immigration." Are we going to see this Congress take seriously -- through the Sensenbrenner legislation, whatever may or may not transpire in the Senate, are we going to see an insistence that this country have secure borders so that it can control immigration ...
DREIER: Absolutely.
DOBBS: ... before taking up the issue of immigration reform?
DREIER: Lou, you know that the No. 1 priority is border security. You just mentioned it in the lead-in here. If for no other reason, our national security. As we just saw Zacarias Moussaoui get his sentencing, clearly any kind of terrorist threat coming through our porous borders is a threat to all of us. What we need to do is, I think we've got a great chance to make happen by focusing on this.
DOBBS: Congressmen Reyes, Congressman Dreier, we thank you both.
DREIER: Always good to be with you, Lou.
REYES: Thanks, nice to be with you.
DREIER: Thanks for your support of this effort, too.
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Related Links:
U.S. Representative Silvertre Reyes Official Website
http://wwwc.house.gov/reyes/
Contact Information: How to Contact Congressman Silvestre Reyes
By E-mail {in his District} or
Washington, D.C. Office
2433 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4831
Fax: (202) 225-2016
DC Scheduling Requests: Fax or mail to the attention of Liza Lynch. Make sure to include dates, times, attendees, and reason for appointment. Please note that requests cannot be made over the phone.
El Paso Office
310 N. Mesa, Suite 400
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: (915) 534-4400
Fax: (915) 534-7426
Reyes Blog
http://www.reyesblog.com/
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Comment: I am glad Rep. Reyes has the courage to put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. Congress so rational-minded but confused people can stop blaming the innocent victims of the whole immigration crisis.
The best way to go is for a real resolution of this crisis is full complete and unconditional amnesty. True refinement seeks simplicity.
How can it be determined who has been here for how long already? What paperwork must be presented to prove long-term residency? Where do we draw the time line? One year, five years, a decade, how long? How many Mexicans workers here are willing to give up what they have here to return to Mexico so they can return to a home that they already have here inside the United States?
Whose land was this in the first place? Does the U.S. Congress really represent the people of the United States in a capitalist-based representative democracy? Who controls the two-headed monster of the Democratic and Republican Parties? Why is the Bush Rogue Regime and its war-mongers always trying to distract public opinion from the real internal problems facing Amerika instead of blaming everythng on al-Qaeda? Why does the liberal-radical left wing let itself get sideswiped by the Fuhrer Puppet Bush agenda? How many anti-immigrant people are really hiding their own racism behind the false flag of phony patriotic Ameriianism and continue to ignore the insane illegality of continued AmeriKKKan Occupation in Iraq?
The only solvent solution to the whole immigration crisis is AMNESTY! We are not even asking reparations for past injustices or complaining about broken old treaties! We should demand AMNESTY NOW! Wake up! Speak out! Take a stand!
Venceremos! ~~ Peta de Aztlan
Email: sacranative@yahoo.com
http://humane-rights-agenda.blogspot.com/2006/05/immigration-dilemma-fault-of-congress.html
Humane-Rights-Agenda Blog
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