[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 2 (Monday, January 12, 2004)]
[Pages 25-28]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Immigration Reform

January 7, 2004

    Thanks for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for joining 
me as I make this important announcement, an announcement that I believe 
will make America a more compassionate and more humane and stronger 
country.
    I appreciate members of my Cabinet who have joined me today, 
starting with our Secretary of State, Colin Powell. I'm honored that our 
Attorney General, John Ashcroft, has joined us; Secretary of Commerce 
Don Evans; Secretary Tom Ridge of the Department of Homeland Security, 
I'm honored you're here; el embajador de Mexico, Tony Garza. I thank all 
the other members of my administration who have joined us today.
    I appreciate the Members of Congress who have taken time to come: 
Senator Larry Craig, Congressman Chris Cannon, and Congressman Jeff 
Flake. I'm honored you all have joined us. Thank you for coming.
    I appreciate the members of citizen groups who have joined us today: 
chairman of the Hispanic Alliance for Progress, Manny Lujan; Gil Moreno, 
the president and CEO of the Association for the Advancement of Mexican 
Americans; Roberto de Posada, the president of the Latino Coalition; and 
Hector Flores, the president of LULAC. Thank you all for joining us.
    Many of you here today are Americans by choice, and you have 
followed in the path of millions. And over the generations, we have 
received energetic, ambitious, optimistic people from every part of the 
world. By tradition and conviction, our country is a welcoming society. 
America is a stronger and better nation because of the hard work and the 
faith and the entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants.
    Every generation of immigrants has reaffirmed the wisdom of 
remaining open to the talents and dreams of the world. And every 
generation of immigrants has reaffirmed our ability to assimilate 
newcomers, which is one of the defining strengths of America.
    During one great period of immigration, between 1891 and 1920, our 
Nation received some 18 million men, women, and children from other 
nations. The hard work of these immigrants helped make our economy the 
largest in the world. The children of immigrants put on the uniform and 
helped to liberate the lands of their ancestors. One of the primary 
reasons America became a great power in the 20th century is because we 
welcomed the talent and the character and the patriotism of immigrant 
families.
    The contributions of immigrants to America continue. About 14 
percent of our Nation's civilian workforce is foreign-born. Most

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begin their working lives in America by taking hard jobs and clocking 
long hours in important industries. Many immigrants also start 
businesses, taking the familiar path from hired labor to ownership.
    As a Texan, I have known many immigrant families, mainly from 
Mexico, and I have seen what they add to our country. They bring to 
America the values of faith in God, love of family, hard work, and self-
reliance, the values that made us a great nation to begin with. We've 
all seen those values in action, through the service and sacrifice of 
more than 35,000 foreign-born men and women currently on active duty in 
the United States military. One of them is Master Gunnery Sergeant 
Guadalupe Denogean, an immigrant from Mexico who has served in the 
Marine Corps for 25 years and counting. Last year, I was honored and 
proud to witness Sergeant Denogean take the oath of citizenship in a 
hospital where he was recovering from wounds he received in Iraq. I'm 
honored to be his Commander in Chief. I'm proud to call him fellow 
American.
    As a nation that values immigration and depends on immigration, we 
should have immigration laws that work and make us proud. Yet today, we 
do not. Instead, we see many employers turning to the illegal labor 
market. We see millions of hard-working men and women condemned to fear 
and insecurity in a massive undocumented economy. Illegal entry across 
our borders makes more difficult the urgent task of securing the 
homeland. The system is not working. Our Nation needs an immigration 
system that serves the American economy and reflects the American Dream.
    Reform must begin by confronting a basic fact of life and economics: 
Some of the jobs being generated in America's growing economy are jobs 
American citizens are not filling. Yet these jobs represent a tremendous 
opportunity for workers from abroad who want to work and fulfill their 
duties as a husband or a wife, a son or a daughter. Their search for a 
better life is one of the most basic desires of human beings.
    Many undocumented workers have walked mile after mile through the 
heat of the day and the cold of the night. Some have risked their lives 
in dangerous desert border crossings or entrusted their lives to the 
brutal rings of heartless human smugglers. Workers who seek only to earn 
a living end up in the shadows of American life, fearful, often abused 
and exploited. When they are victimized by crime, they are afraid to 
call the police or seek recourse in the legal system. They are cut off 
from their families far away, fearing if they leave our country to visit 
relatives back home, they might never be able to return to their jobs.
    The situation I described is wrong. It is not the American way. Out 
of common sense and fairness, our laws should allow willing workers to 
enter our country and fill jobs that Americans are not filling. We must 
make our immigration laws more rational and more humane. And I believe 
we can do so without jeopardizing the livelihoods of American citizens.
    Our reforms should be guided by a few basic principles. First, 
America must control its borders. Following the attacks of September the 
11th, 2001, this duty of the Federal Government has become even more 
urgent, and we're fulfilling that duty. For the first time in our 
history, we have consolidated all border agencies under one roof to make 
sure they share information and the work is more effective. We're 
matching all visa applicants against an expanded screening list to 
identify terrorists and criminals and immigration violators. This month, 
we have begun using advanced technology to better record and track 
aliens who enter our country and to make sure they leave as scheduled. 
We have deployed new gamma and x-ray systems to scan cargo and 
containers and shipments at ports of entry to America. We have 
significantly expanded the Border Patrol with more than 1,000 new agents 
on the borders and 40 percent greater funding over the last 2 years. 
We're working closely with the Canadian and Mexican Governments to 
increase border security. America is acting on a basic belief: Our 
borders should be open to legal travel and honest trade; our borders 
should be shut and barred tight to criminals, to drug traders--to drug 
traffickers and to criminals and to terrorists.
    Second, new immigration laws should serve the economic needs of our 
country. If an American employer is offering a job that

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American citizens are not willing to take, we ought to welcome into our 
country a person who will fill that job.
    Third, we should not give unfair rewards to illegal immigrants in 
the citizenship process or disadvantage those who came here lawfully or 
hope to do so.
    Fourth, new laws should provide incentives for temporary foreign 
workers to return permanently to their home countries after their period 
of work in the United States has expired.
    Today I ask the Congress to join me in passing new immigration laws 
that reflect these principles, that meet America's economic needs and 
live up to our highest ideals.
    I propose a new temporary-worker program that will match willing 
foreign workers with willing American employers when no Americans can be 
found to fill the jobs. This program will offer legal status as 
temporary workers to the millions of undocumented men and women now 
employed in the United States and to those in foreign countries who seek 
to participate in the program and have been offered employment here. 
This new system should be clear and efficient so employers are able to 
find workers quickly and simply.
    All who participate in the temporary-worker program must have a job 
or, if not living in the United States, a job offer. The legal status 
granted by this program will last 3 years and will be renewable, but it 
will have an end. Participants who do not remain employed, who do not 
follow the rules of the program, or who break the law will not be 
eligible for continued participation and will be required to return to 
their home.
    Under my proposal, employers have key responsibilities. Employers 
who extend job offers must first make every reasonable effort to find an 
American worker for the job at hand. Our Government will develop a quick 
and simple system for employers to search for American workers. 
Employers must not hire undocumented aliens or temporary workers whose 
legal status has expired. They must report to the Government the 
temporary workers they hire and who leave their employ so that we can 
keep track of people in the program and better enforce our immigration 
laws. There must be strong workplace enforcement with tough penalties 
for anyone, for any employer, violating these laws.
    Undocumented workers now here will be required to pay a one-time fee 
to register for the temporary-worker program. Those who seek to join the 
program from abroad and have complied with our immigration laws will not 
have to pay any fee. All participants will be issued a temporary-worker 
card that will allow them to travel back and forth between their home 
and the United States without fear of being denied reentry into our 
country.
    This program expects temporary workers to return permanently to 
their home countries after their period of work in the United States has 
expired, and there should be financial incentives for them to do so. I 
will work with foreign governments on a plan to give temporary workers 
credit, when they enter their own nation's retirement system, for the 
time they have worked in America. I also support making it easier for 
temporary workers to contribute a portion of their earnings to tax-
preferred savings accounts, money they can collect as they return to 
their native countries. After all, in many of those countries, a small 
nest egg is what is necessary to start their own business or buy some 
land for their family.
    Some temporary workers will make the decision to pursue American 
citizenship. Those who make this choice will be allowed to apply in the 
normal way. They will not be given unfair advantage over people who have 
followed legal procedures from the start.
    I oppose amnesty, placing undocumented workers on the automatic path 
to citizenship. Granting amnesty encourages the violation of our laws 
and perpetuates illegal immigration. America is a welcoming country, but 
citizenship must not be the automatic reward for violating the laws of 
America.
    The citizenship line, however, is too long, and our current limits 
on legal immigration are too low. My administration will work with the 
Congress to increase the annual number of green cards that can lead to 
citizenship. Those willing to take the difficult path of citizenship, 
the path of work and patience and assimilation, should be welcome in 
America like generations of immigrants before them.

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    In the process of immigration reform, we must also set high 
expectations for what new citizens should know. An understanding of what 
it means to be an American is not a formality in the naturalization 
process; it is essential to full participation in our democracy. My 
administration will examine the standard of knowledge in the current 
citizenship test. We must ensure that new citizens know not only the 
facts of our history but the ideals that have shaped our history. Every 
citizen of America has an obligation to learn the values that make us 
one Nation: liberty and civic responsibility, equality under God, 
tolerance for others.
    This new temporary-worker program will bring more than economic 
benefits to America. Our homeland will be more secure when we can better 
account for those who enter our country, instead of the current 
situation in which millions of people are unknown, unknown to the law. 
Law enforcement will face fewer problems with undocumented workers and 
will be better able to focus on the true threats to our Nation from 
criminals and terrorists. And when temporary workers can travel legally 
and freely, there will be more efficient management of our borders and 
more effective enforcement against those who pose a true threat to our 
country.
    This new system will be more compassionate. Decent, hard-working 
people will now be protected by labor laws, with the right to change 
jobs, earn fair wages, and enjoy the same working conditions that the 
law requires for American workers. Temporary workers will be able to 
establish their identities by obtaining the legal documents that we all 
take for granted. And they will be able to talk openly to authorities, 
to report crimes when they are harmed, without the fear of being 
deported.
    The best way in the long run to reduce the pressures that create 
illegal immigration in the first place is to expand economic opportunity 
among the countries in our neighborhood. In a few days I will go to 
Mexico for the special Summit of the Americas, where we will discuss 
ways to advance free trade and to fight corruption and encourage the 
reforms that lead to prosperity. Real growth and real hope in the 
nations of our hemisphere will lessen the flow of new immigrants to 
America when more citizens of other countries are able to achieve their 
dreams at their own home.
    Yet our country has always benefited from the dreams that others 
have brought here. By working hard for a better life, immigrants 
contribute to the life of our Nation. The temporary-worker program I am 
proposing today represents the best tradition of our society, a society 
that honors the law and welcomes the newcomer. This plan will help 
return order and fairness to our immigration system. And in so doing, we 
will honor our values by showing our respect for those who work hard and 
share in the ideals of America.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:45 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Antonio O. Garza, U.S. Ambassador 
to Mexico. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of these remarks.