The
White House
Obama's
four points on
Immigration Reform
Dear
friends --
Our
immigration system is
broken. It has been for some time.
Right
now, there are 11
million people living in a shadow economy. There are Americans waiting
in long
lines to reunite with their families. There are employers who are
exploiting
the system by hiring undocumented workers, and that threatens the wages
and
working conditions of American workers. None of this is good for the
economy,
and it isn’t fair for the middle class.
So
President Obama is
determined to fix this broken system so that everyone plays by the same
rules,
and we wanted to make sure you get the details. Here's what he wants to
do:
--
First, continue to improve
the security on our borders;
--
Second, crack down on
the companies that hire undocumented workers;
--
Third, provide
undocumented immigrants the chance to earn their citizenship and hold
them
accountable by requiring that they learn English, pay taxes and a
penalty, move
to the back of the line, and pass background checks; and
--
Fourth, streamline the
legal immigration system for families, workers, and businesses.
The
good news is that
lawmakers from both parties agree with that basic set of principles,
and a
bipartisan group of Senators is already working on a bill that's
consistent
with President Obama's proposal. That's big.
Readers
can respond to
President Obama and view a video here
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