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The leading Copyright |
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MODERATOR: Let's go to a new question, Mr. President. I got more
e-mail this week on this question than any other question, and it is
about immigration. I'm told that at least 8,000 people cross our
borders illegally every day. Some people believe this is a security
issue, as you know, some believe it's an economic issue, some see it as
a human rights issue. How do you see it and what do we need to do
about it?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I see it as a serious problem. I see it as a
security issue, I see it as an economic issue, and I see it as a human
rights issue. We're increasing the border security of the United
States. We got 1,000 more border patrol agents on the southern
border. We're using new equipment. We're using unmanned vehicles to
spot people coming across. And we'll continue to do so over the next
four years. It's a subject I'm very familiar with. After all, I was a
border governor for a while.
Many people are coming to this country for economic reasons.
They're coming here to work. If you can make 50 cents in the heart of
Mexico, for example, or make $5.00 here in America -- $5.15 -- you're
going to come here if you're worth your salt, if you want to put food
on the table for your families. And that's what's happening.
And so, in order to take pressure off the border, in order to make
the borders more secure, I believe there ought to be a temporary worker
card that allows a willing worker and a willing employer to mate up, so
long as there's not a American willing to do the job -- to join up in
order to be able to fulfill the employer's needs. That has the benefit
of making sure our employers aren't breaking the law as they try to
fill their work force needs. It makes sure that the people coming
across the border are humanely treated, that they're not kept in the
shadows of our society, that they're able to go back and forth to see
their families. See, the card will have a period of time attached to
it.
It also means it takes pressure off the border. If somebody is
coming here to work with a card, it means they're not going to have to
sneak across the border. It means our border patrol will be more
likely to be able to focus on doing their job.
Now, it's very important for our citizens to also know that I don't
believe we ought to have amnesty. I don't think we ought to reward
illegal behavior. There are plenty of people standing in line to
become a citizen and we ought not to crowd these people ahead of them
in line. If they want to become a citizen, they can stand in line,
too. And here's where my opponent and I differ. In September, 2003,
he supported amnesty for illegal aliens.
MODERATOR: Time's up.
Senator.
SENATOR KERRY: Let me just answer one part of that last question
quickly and then I'll come to immigration. The American middle-class
family isn't making it right now, Bob, and what the President said
about the tax cuts have been wiped out by the increase in health care,
the increase in gasoline, the increase in tuitions, the increase in
prescription drugs. The fact is the take-home pay of a typical
American family as a share of national income is lower than it's been
since 1929. And the take-home pay of the richest .1 percent of
Americans is the highest it's been since 1928. Under President Bush,
the middle class has seen their tax burden go up, and the wealthiest
tax burdens gone down. Now, that's wrong.
Now, with respect to immigration reform, the President broke his
promise on immigration reform. He said he would reform it. Four years
later, he's now promising another plan. Here's what I'll do: Number
one, the borders are more leaking today than they were before 9/11.
The fact is we haven't done what we need to do to toughen up our
borders -- and I will.
Secondly, we need a guest worker program, but if it's all we have,
it's not going to solve the problem. The second thing we need is to
crack down on illegal hiring. It's against the law in the United
States to hire people illegally. And we ought to be enforcing that law
properly. And thirdly, we need an earned legalization program for
people who've been here for a long time, stayed out of trouble, got a
job, paid their taxes, and their kids are American, we've got to start
moving them toward full citizenship, out of the shadows.
MODERATOR: Do you want to respond, Mr. President?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, to say that the borders are not as protected
as they were prior to September 11th shows he doesn't know the
borders. They're much better protected today than they were when I was
the governor of Texas. We've got much more manpower, much more
equipment there. He just doesn't understand how the borders work,
evidently, to say that. That is an outrageous claim. And we'll
continue to protect our borders. We'll continue to increase manpower
and equipment.
MODERATOR: Senator.
SENATOR KERRY: Four thousand people a day are coming across the
border. The fact is that we now have people from the Middle East,
allegedly, coming across the border. And we're not doing what we ought
to do in terms of the technology. We have iris identification
technology. We have thumb print, fingerprint technology today. We can
know who the people are, that they're really the people they say they
are, when they cross the border. We could speed it up. There are huge
delays. The fact is, our borders are not as secure as they ought to
be, and I'll make them secure.
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