    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [February 7, 1995]
    [Pages 167-169]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Immigration Policy Initiative and an Exchange With
    Reporters
    February 7, 1995

        The President. Good morning. Two years ago, when I took office, I
    was determined to do a better job of dealing with the problem of illegal
    immigration. About 2 years ago this week, when I discussed with Janet
    Reno the possibility of her becoming Attorney General, we had a talk
    about this, and for the last 2 years we have been hard at work to try to
    fix a system that everyone agreed had serious problems.
        The Vice President and I have just been briefed by Attorney General
    Reno; Doris Meissner, the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization
    Service; our Secretary of Labor, Bob Reich; Maria Echaveste, the
    Director of the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department;
    Silvestre Reyes, Chief Border Patrol Agent of the El Paso Sector; Gus de
    la Vina, the Director of the Western Region of the Immigration and
    Naturalization Service; Doug Crum, the U.S. Border Patrol Chief; and
    George Weise, our Customs Commissioner.
        After our meeting, I signed a Presidential directive to the heads of
    all executive departments instructing them to very quickly expand and
    strengthen our program to reduce illegal immigration in four key areas:
    first, protecting our borders; second, protecting the interests of our
    workers in the workplace; third, removing more criminal aliens; and
    fourth, providing more assistance to the States which are burdened with
    the problem of illegal immigration.
        For example, I've asked the Attorney General to increase those
    elements of our Border Patrol strategy that are proving most effective,
    including the use of helicopters, night scopes, and all-terrain
    vehicles. I've asked the members of the Cabinet to create for the first
    time a national detention and removal plan to dramatically increase the
    identification and removal of deportable illegal aliens. These are just
    a few examples, and of course you'll get more in a moment when the
    people behind me give a more extensive background briefing.
        One of the cornerstones of our fight against illegal immigration has
    been a get-tough policy at our borders. We initiated Operation Hold the
    Line at El Paso, Operation Gatekeeper in San Diego, and Operation
    Safeguard in Arizona, all with one clear intention, to secure the
    Southwest border. As we speak, these initiatives are making a
    substantial difference. Illegal immigration is down; crime is down. And
    my budget in immigration strategy builds on that success. Here are the
    elements of the initiative:
        First, I have asked Congress for an additional $1 billion to fight
    illegal immigration in the

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    coming fiscal year. I want to emphasize that while most of the talk
    yesterday was about cutting the budget, and we do have $140 billion in
    budget cuts, there are some things we should spend more money on. We
    recommended spending more money on education, on medical research in
    AIDS, on crime, in the community policing bill, on veterans interests.
    And we recommended a billion more dollars to fight illegal immigration.
    Under the budgets already passed, we've added 1,000 new Border Patrol
    agents just in the Southwest. By the end of 1996, our administration
    will have increased overall border personnel by 51 percent since 1993.
        Second, I've asked for more funds to protect American jobs by
    increasing the number of workplace investigators by 85 percent. Our
    administration will begin to test different methods of helping employers
    verify a worker's employment authorization. This was, as I'm sure you'll
    remember, one of the key recommendations of the Jordan commission.
    Barbara Jordan wanted to be here with us today, but in pursuit of that
    commission's work, she is traveling the country. She has sent us a
    letter endorsing the proposals in this package.
        The fact is that employer sanctions have been in the law on illegal
    immigration since 1986, but no prior administration has made a serious
    attempt to enforce them. With this budget and with legislation I will
    soon be sending to Congress, we will be able to crack down on employers
    who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. If we turn off the employment
    stream for illegal workers, far, far fewer of them will risk the
    difficult journey here.
        Incidentally, our financial support package for Mexico will also,
    over the long run, reduce pressure on illegal immigration. With a
    healthier economy, the Mexican people will find more opportunities for
    jobs at home.
        Thirdly, I have asked for new funds to double the deportation of
    criminal aliens next year and to triple them by 1996.
        And finally, ours is the first administration to reimburse States
    for a share of the costs that they bear related to illegal immigration,
    including the incarceration of illegal aliens. I've asked Congress for a
    total of $550 million for State reimbursement; that more than doubles
    the fund that now exists.
        Whether through the budget, the directive I've just signed, or the
    legislation I will soon send to the Congress, our goals are the same:
    tougher border enforcement, more protection for American workers, faster
    deportation of criminal aliens, additional assistance to the States.
    That's a comprehensive strategy that is already beginning to work and
    that will work much better if this plan is implemented by the
    administration and by the Congress. We need help from the Congress to
    implement this plan.
        I want Congress to move quickly on this issue, just as we have moved
    quickly on a number of fronts. I am proud at the speed that the INS
    showed recently in moving 62 Border Patrol agents in 24 hours to
    Nogales, Arizona, to reinforce that border. In the future, if our budget
    becomes law, that kind of movement won't be necessary. For the first
    time ever there will be a rapid response team to enable the Border
    Patrol to react quickly to buildups at any particular border spots.
        We've accomplished a lot in just 2 years. As I said in the State of
    the Union, we are a nation of immigrants, and we should all be proud of
    it. But we're also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-
    defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our
    immigration laws that we have seen in recent years. There is too much of
    it, and we must do much more to stop it.
        Thank you very much.

    Surgeon General Nominee Foster

        Q. Mr. President, have you cleared up the conflicting statements
    about Dr. Foster and abortions?
        The President. I believe that they've been cleared up, and I
    certainly support him.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:23 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. The memorandum is listed in Appendix D at the end of this
    volume.

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