    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [November 28, 2005]
    [Pages 1765-1771]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Border Security and Immigration Reform in Tucson, Arizona
    November 28, 2005

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you for the warm welcome. It
    is such a pleasure to be back in Arizona, and it's great to be here in
    Tucson. Last time I was here, I think there was probably about a 50-
    degree temperature differential. [Laughter] It's an honor to stand here
    with the men and women of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. As well, to be
    here with the men and women of the Customs and Border Protection Agency,
    and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency as well.

        Securing our border is essential to securing the homeland. And I
    want to thank all of those who are working around the clock to defend
    our border, to enforce our laws, and to uphold the values of the United
    States of America. America is grateful to those who are on the
    frontlines of enforcing the border.
        I appreciate so very much the Governor
    joining us today. Governor, thank you for being here. I'm honored you
    are here. I appreciate Senator John McCain
    joining us today, Senator, as well as Senator Jon Kyl. I appreciate three members of the congressional delegation
    from Arizona--Congressmen Shadegg,
    Flake, and Franks--for
    joining us as well. Two members of my Cabinet are here with us, the
    Attorney General of the United States, Al Gonzales, and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,
    Mike Chertoff.
        I want to thank the United States Attorney from the District of
    Arizona, Paul Charlton, for joining us
    today. I appreciate David Aguilar, who is
    the Chief of the Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection of
    the Department of Homeland Security; Mike Nicely, who is the Chief Patrol Agent, Tucson Sector; Ron
    Colburn, Chief Patrol Agent, Yuma Sector;
    Martin

    [[Page 1766]]

    Vaughan, Director of Air Operations. But most
    of all, I want to thank those who wear the uniform for doing such a fine
    job. Thank you all. Finally, I want to thank General Schmidt for welcoming me today. He's the Commander of the
    12th Air Force, U.S. Southern Command, based right here at this base.
        I have a solemn duty, and so do the Members of the United States
    Congress, to protect our Nation, our Constitution, and our laws. Our
    border and immigration security officers devote themselves to those same
    missions every single day.
        America has always been a compassionate nation that values the
    newcomer and takes great pride in our immigrant heritage. Yet we're also
    a nation built on the rule of law, and those who enter the country
    illegally violate the law. The American people should not have to choose
    between a welcoming society and a lawful society. We can have both at
    the same time. And to keep the promise of America, we will enforce the
    laws of our country.
        As a former Governor, I know that enforcing the law and the border
    is especially important to the communities along the border. Illegal
    immigration puts pressure on our schools and hospitals; I understand
    that. I understand it strains the resources needed for law enforcement
    and emergency services. And the vicious human strugglers--smugglers and
    gangs that bring illegal immigrants across the border also bring crime
    to our neighborhoods and danger to the highways. Illegal immigration is
    a serious challenge, and our responsibility is clear: We are going to
    protect the border.
        Since I've taken office, we've increased funding for border security
    by 60 percent. Our border agents have used that funding to apprehend and
    send home more than 4.5 million people coming into our country
    illegally, including more than 350,000 with criminal records. Our
    customs and border protection agents can be proud of the work that
    you're doing. You're taking control of this border. And we have more
    work to do, and that's what I want to talk to you about today. We're
    going to build on the progress we have made.
        We have a comprehensive strategy to reform our immigration system.
    We're going to secure the border by catching those who enter illegally
    and hardening the border to prevent illegal crossings. We're going to
    strengthen enforcement of our immigration laws within our country. And
    together with Congress, we're going to create a temporary-worker program
    that will take pressure off the border, bring workers from out of the
    shadows, and reject amnesty.
        Our strategy for comprehensive immigration reforms begins by
    securing the border. Now, let me talk to you about a three-part plan.
    The first part of the plan is to promptly return every illegal entrant
    we catch at the border, with no exceptions. More than 85 percent of the
    illegal immigrants we catch are from Mexico, and most of them are
    escorted back across the border within 24 hours.
        To prevent them from trying to cross again, we've launched an
    interesting program, an innovative approach called interior
    repatriation. Under this program, many Mexicans caught at the border
    illegally are flown back to Mexico and then bused to their hometowns in
    the interior part of the country. By returning these illegal immigrants
    to their hometowns far from the border, we make it more difficult for
    them to attempt to cross again. Interior repatriation is showing promise
    in breaking the cycle of illegal immigration.
        In a pilot program focused on the west Arizona desert, nearly 35,000
    illegal immigrants were returned to Mexico through interior
    repatriation. Last year, only about 8 percent of them were caught trying
    to cross the border again, a much lower rate than we find among illegal
    immigrants who are escorted directly across the border. We're going to
    expand interior repatriation. We want to make it clear that when people
    violate immigration laws, they're going to

    [[Page 1767]]

    be sent home, and they need to stay at home.
        We face a different set of challenges with non-Mexicans that we--who
    we catch crossing the border illegally. When non-Mexican illegal
    immigrants are apprehended, they are initially detained. The problem is
    that our detention facilities don't have enough beds. And so, about four
    of every five non-Mexican illegal immigrants we catch are released in
    society and asked to return for a court date. When the date arrives,
    about 75 percent of those released don't show up to the court. As a
    result, last year only 30,000 of the 160,000 non-Mexicans caught coming
    across our Southwest border were sent home.
        This practice of catch-and-release has been the Government's policy
    for decades. It is an unwise policy, and we're going to end it. To help
    end catch-and-release, we need to increase the capacity in our detention
    facilities. Last month at the White House, I signed legislation
    supported by the members of the Arizona delegation that will increase
    the number of beds in our detention facilities. We're also working to
    process illegal immigrants through the system more quickly, so we can
    return them home faster and free up bed space for others.
        One of the most effective tools we have in this effort is a process
    called expedited removal. Under expedited removal, non-Mexicans are
    detained and placed into streamlined proceedings. It allows us to deport
    them at an average of 32 days, almost three times faster than usual. In
    other words, we're cutting through the bureaucracy. Last year, we used
    expedited removal to deport more than 20,000 non-Mexicans caught
    entering this country illegally between Tucson and Laredo. This program
    is so successful that the Secretary has
    expanded it all up and down the border. This is a straightforward idea.
    It says, when an illegal immigrant knows they'll be caught and sent
    home, they're less likely to come to the country. That's the message
    we're trying to send with expedited removal.
        We're also pursuing other commonsense steps to accelerate the
    deportation process. We're pressing foreign governments to take their
    citizens back promptly. We're streamlining the paperwork, and we're
    increasing the number of flights carrying illegal immigrants home. We
    recently tested the effectiveness of these steps with Brazilian illegal
    immigrants caught along the Rio Grande Valley of the Texas border. The
    effort was called Operation Texas Hold 'Em. [Laughter] It delivered
    impressive results. Thanks to our actions, Brazilian illegal immigration
    dropped by 90 percent in the Rio Grande Valley and by 60--50 percent
    across the border as a whole. With all these steps, we're delivering
    justice more effectively, and we're changing the policy from catch-and-
    release to the policy of catch-and-return.
        The second part of our plan is to strengthen border--to strengthen
    border enforcement is to correct weak and unnecessary provisions in our
    immigration laws. Under current law, the Federal Government is required
    to release people caught crossing our border illegally if their home
    countries do not take them back in a set period of time. That law
    doesn't work when it comes time to enforcing the border, and it needs to
    be changed. Those we were forced to release have included murderers,
    rapists, child molesters, and other violent criminals. This undermines
    our border security. It undermines the work these good folks are doing.
    And the United States Congress needs to pass legislation to end these
    senseless rules.
        We need to address the cycle of endless litigation that clogs our
    immigration courts and delays justice for immigrants. Some Federal
    courts are now burdened with more than six times as many immigration
    appeals as they had just a few years ago. A panel of the Ninth Circuit
    Court of Appeals in San Francisco declared that illegal immigrants have
    a right to relitigate before

    [[Page 1768]]

    an immigration court as many times as they want. This decision obviously
    would encourage illegal immigrants who have been deported to sneak back
    into the country to re-argue their case. Congress needs to put an end to
    this cycle of needless litigation and deliver reforms necessary to help
    us secure this border.
        The third part of our plan to strengthen border enforcement is to
    stop people from crossing the border illegally in the first place. And
    we're increasing manpower; we're increasing technology and
    infrastructure across this border. We're integrating these resources in
    ways we have never done before.
        Since 2001, we've hired 1,900 new Border Patrol agents. I just
    signed a bill last month that will enable us to add another 1,000 Border
    Patrol agents. When we complete these hires, we will have enlarged the
    Border Patrol by about 3,000 agents, from 9,500 the year I took office
    to 12,500 next year. This is an increase of more than 30 percent, and
    most of the new agents will be assigned right here in the State of
    Arizona.
        And to help the agents, we're deploying technologies. Listen,
    technology can help an individual agent have broader reach and more
    effectiveness. When agents can take advantage of cutting-edge equipment
    like overhead surveillance drones and infrared cameras, they can do a
    better job for all of us.
        In Tucson, agents on the ground are directing unmanned aerial
    technology in the sky, and they're acting rapidly on illegal immigration
    or illegal activities they may see from the drones. In the months since
    these unmanned flights began, agents have intercepted a lot of drugs on
    the border that otherwise--and people--that otherwise might have made it
    through.
        The legislation I signed last month provides $139 million to further
    upgrade the technology and bring a more unified, systematic approach to
    border enforcement. Again, I want to thank the Members of the Congress.
        In some places, the most effective way to secure the border is to
    construct physical barriers to entry. The legislation I signed last
    month includes $70 million to install and improve protective
    infrastructure across this border. In rural areas, we're funding the
    construction of new patrol roads to give our agents better access to the
    border and new vehicle barriers to keep illegal immigrants from driving
    across the border.
        In urban areas, we're expanding fencing to shut down access to human
    smuggling corridors. Secretary Chertoff
    recently used authority granted by the Congress to order the completion
    of a 14-mile barrier near San Diego that had been held up because of
    lawsuits. By overcoming endless litigation to finish this vital project,
    we're helping our border agents do their job and making people who live
    close to the border more secure.
        Our actions to integrate manpower, technology, and infrastructure
    are getting results. And one of the best examples of success is the
    Arizona Border Control Initiative, which the Government launched in
    2004. In the first year of this initiative--now, listen to this, listen
    how hard these people are working here--agents in Arizona apprehended
    nearly 500,000 illegal immigrants, a 42-percent increase over the
    previous year. We've captured a half-million pounds of marijuana,
    prosecuted more than 400 people suspected of human smuggling, and seized
    more than $7 million in cash. You've got some good folks here working
    hard to do their job, and I appreciate it very much.
        As we work to secure the border, comprehensive immigration reform
    also requires us to improve enforcement of our laws in the interior of
    the country. Catching and deporting illegal immigrants along the border
    is only part of the responsibility. America's immigration laws apply
    across all of America, and we will enforce those laws

    [[Page 1769]]

    throughout our land. Better interior enforcement begins with better
    worksite enforcement. American businesses have an obligation to abide by
    the law, and our Government has the responsibility to help them do so.
        Enforcing our immigration laws in the interior of the country
    requires a sustained commitment of resources. Since I took office, we've
    increased funding for immigration enforcement by 44 percent. We've
    increased the number of immigration and customs investigators by 14
    percent since 2001. And those good folks are working hard too. Last
    year, the--this year, Federal agents completed what they called
    Operation Rollback. It's the largest worksite enforcement case in
    American history. This operation resulted in the arrest of hundreds of
    illegal immigrants, criminal convictions against a dozen employers, and
    a multimillion dollar payment from one of America's largest
    corporations.
        Our skilled immigration security officers are also going against
    some of the most dangerous people in our society--smugglers, terrorists,
    gang members, and human traffickers. In Arizona, we have prosecuted more
    than 2,300 smugglers bringing drugs, guns, and illegal immigrants across
    the border. As a part of Operation Community Shield, Federal agents have
    arrested nearly 1,400 gang members who were here illegally, including
    hundreds of members of the violent Latin American gangs like MS-13.
        Since the Department of Homeland Security was created, agents have
    apprehended nearly 27,000 illegal immigrant fugitives. Thanks to our
    determined personnel, society is safer. But we've got more work to do.
    The legislation I signed last month more than doubled the resources
    dedicated to interior enforcement. We understand that border security
    and interior enforcement go hand in hand. We will increase the number of
    immigration enforcement agents and criminal investigators.
        We're confronting the problem of document fraud as well. When
    illegal workers try to pass off sophisticated forgeries as employment
    documents, even the most diligent businesses find it difficult to tell
    what's real and what's fake. Businessowners shouldn't have to act like
    detectives to verify the legal status of their workers. So my
    administration has expanded a program called Basic Pilot. This program
    gives businesses access to an automated system that rapidly screens the
    employment eligibility of new hire against Federal records. Basic Pilot
    was available in only six States 5 years ago; now this program is
    available nationwide. We'll continue to work to stop document fraud to
    make it easier for America's businesses to comply with our immigration
    laws.
        As we enforce our immigration laws, comprehensive immigration reform
    also requires us to improve those laws by creating a new temporary-
    worker program. This program would create a legal way to match willing
    foreign workers with willing American employers to fill jobs that
    Americans will not do. Workers would be able to register for legal
    status for a fixed period of time and then be required to go home. This
    program would help meet the demands of a growing economy, and it would
    allow honest workers to provide for their families while respecting the
    law.
        This plan would also help us relieve pressure on the border. By
    creating a legal channel for those who enter America to do an honest
    day's labor, we would reduce the number of workers trying to sneak
    across the border. This would free up law enforcement officials to focus
    on criminals, drug dealers, terrorists, and others that mean to harm us.
    Our plan would create a tamper-proof identification card for the
    temporary legal worker, which, of course, would improve worksite
    enforcement.
        Listen, there's a lot of opinions on this proposal. I understand
    that, but people in this debate must recognize that we will not

    [[Page 1770]]

    be able to effectively enforce our immigration laws until we create a
    temporary-worker program. The program that I proposed would not create
    an automatic path to citizenship, it wouldn't provide for amnesty. I
    oppose amnesty. Rewarding those who have broken the law would encourage
    others to break the law and keep pressure on our border.
        A temporary-worker program, by contrast, would decrease pressure on
    the border. I support the number of--increasing the number of annual
    green cards that can lead to citizenship. But for the sake of justice
    and for the sake of border security, I'm not going to sign an
    immigration bill that includes amnesty.
        I look forward to continue working with the United States Congress
    on comprehensive immigration reform. In the House of Representatives,
    your Arizona Congressmen are building strong support for border
    enforcement among their colleagues. Judiciary Committee Chairman
    Sensenbrenner and Homeland
    Security Chairman King are moving bills that
    include tough provisions to help secure this border. The House plans to
    vote on this legislation soon; I urge them to pass a good bill.
        The Senate is continuing to work on border legislation as well. This
    legislation improves border security and toughens interior enforcement
    and creates a temporary-worker program. Senators McCain and Kyl have taken the lead. It's
    two good men taking the lead, by the way. I'm confident something is
    going to get done that people of Arizona will like, with these two
    Senators in the lead.
        Majority Leader Frist and Judiciary Committee
    Chairman Specter said they're going to take
    action in early 2006. See, we have a chance to move beyond the old and
    tired choices of the immigration debate and come together on a strategy
    to enforce our laws, secure our country, and uphold our deepest values.
        We made good progress, but you know like I know, there's a lot more
    to be done. And we've got to continue to work together to get that done,
    and I'm optimistic that Congress will rise to the occasion. By passing
    comprehensive immigration reform, we will add to this country's
    security, to our prosperity, and to justice.
        Our Nation has been strengthened by generations of immigrants who
    became Americans through patience and hard work and assimilation. In
    this new century, we must continue to welcome immigrants and to set high
    standards for those who follow the laws to become a part of our country.
    Every new citizen of the United States has an obligation to learn our
    customs and values, including liberty and civic responsibility, equality
    under God and tolerance for others, and the English language. We will
    continue to pursue policies that encourage ownership, excellence in
    education, and give all our citizens a chance to realize the American
    Dream.
        I appreciate once again being here with the Border and Immigration
    Security officers who have volunteered for a difficult and urgent
    assignment. I appreciate their courage. By defending our border, you're
    defending our liberty and our citizens and our way of life. I'm proud to
    stand with you today, and the American people stand with you as well.
    May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless our country.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:40 p.m. at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
    In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona. The
    Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of these remarks.

    [[Page 1771]]