Immigration ought to be a place where the national interest comes first, last, and always.

Slightly edited to fit as title. Full sentence is:

quote:

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But immigration, like foreign policy, ought to be a place where the national interest comes first, last, and always.

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Excerpted from testimony given to the House of Representatives.

Primary points, as enumerated:

1. "The Commission believes that legal immigration has strengthened the country and that it continues to do so.... Unlawful immigration is unacceptable."

2. "We believe that employer sanctions can work, but only with a reliable system for verifying authorization to work. Employers want to obey the law, but they are caught now between a rock and a hard place. The current system is based on documents. An employer must either accept those documents, knowing that they might be forged, and thus live with the vulnerability to employer sanctions for hiring someone presenting false identification. Or, an employer may choose to ask particular workers for more documentation, which is discrimination. "

3. "Citizenship and naturalization should be more central to the process of immigration. There are many barriers to naturalizing in law and practice, and they should be removed. But it is a debasement of the concept of citizenship to make it the route to welfare."

4. "Fourth, deportation is crucial. Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave."

5. "Fifth, emergency management. Migration emergencies such as we have seen recently with Haiti and Cuba do recur, and we must be prepared for them. Again, we will have detailed recommendations on migration emergencies. "

6. "The current debate over the economic impact of immigration is marked by shaky statistics, flawed assumptions, and an amazing range of contradictory conclusions from what ought to be commonly-accepted methods. Rather than attempt to choose sides in this discussion, the Commission has contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to analyze the methods used for evaluating immigration data, to cut through this fog. "

7. "Seventh, much as we support enhanced enforcement by this country, we must face the fact that unilateral action on the part of the United States will never be enough to curb illegal immigration. Immigrants come here illegally from source countries where conditions prevail that encourage or even compel them to leave. Attacking the root causes of illegal migration is essential and will require international cooperation. "

8. "The Commission on Immigration Reform endorsed a border crossing fee in principle as a user fee. It should not go into the general treasury. ...We applaud the efforts of innovative Border Patrol leaders, such as Silvestre Reyes with Operation Hold the Line in El Paso, and we must do our part, as well. " (Silvestre Reyes, who was the head of the El Paso Border Control at the time, ordered his officers to form a human and vehicle blockade along the border. There were four hundred agents and vehicles every 100 yards from one side of El Paso to the other, in order to prevent illegal immigration.

In a piece written for the NYT,

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There is a word for this process: Americanization. That word earned a bad reputation when it was stolen by racists and xenophobes in the 1920's. But it is our word, and we are taking it back. Americanization means becoming a part of the polity -- becoming one of us. But that does not mean conformity. We are more than a melting pot; we are a kaleidoscope, where every turn of history refracts new light on the old promise.

Immigration imposes mutual obligations. Those who choose to come here must embrace the common core of American civic culture. We must assist them in learning our common language: American English. We must renew civic education in the teaching of American history for all Americans. We must vigorously enforce the laws against hate crimes and discrimination. We must remind ourselves, as we illustrate for newcomers, what makes us America.

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For all the Trumpbashers on here, tell me any part of this where you can find something he has said that contradicts the above.

How did this country ever allow someone as racist as Barbara Jordan to hold public office and advise President Clinton?