[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 13 (Monday, April 3, 2006)]
[Pages 563-567]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Naturalization Ceremony

March 27, 2006

    Thank you all. Thank you very much. It's good to be with you. I am 
grateful for the chance to witness this joyous and uplifting ceremony. 
It is inspiring to see people of many different ages, many different 
countries raise their hands and swear an oath to become citizens of the 
United States of America.
    For some of you, this day comes after a long and difficult journey. 
For all of you, this is a defining moment in your lives. America is now 
more than your home; America is your country. I welcome you to this free 
nation. I congratulate you and your families, and it's an honor to call 
you fellow Americans.
    I appreciate the Attorney General. Dr. Gonzales, thank you, sir. 
And, Alfonso, it's good to be up here with you. I want to thank the 
president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ms. 
Presley Wagoner, for letting us use this fantastic facility for this 
important ceremony. Thank you for singing the National Anthem so 
beautifully.
    It is fitting that we hold this ceremony at the home of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution. The Daughters of the American 
Revolution were the daughters of immigrants, because the leaders of our 
revolution all had ancestors who came from abroad. As new citizens of 
the United States, you now walk in the footsteps of millions. And with 
the oath you've sworn, you're every bit as American as those who came 
before you.
    Our immigrant heritage has enriched America's history. It continues 
to shape our society. Each generation of immigrants brings a renewal to 
our national character and adds vitality to our culture. Newcomers have 
a special way of appreciating the opportunities of America, and when 
they seize those opportunities, our whole nation benefits.
    In the 1970s, an immigrant from Ireland--or the 1790s, an immigrant 
from Ireland designed the White House, right where Laura and I live. And 
he helped build the Capitol. In the 1990s, an immigrant from Russia 
helped create the Internet search engine Google. In between, new 
citizens have made

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contributions in virtually every professional field, and millions of 
newcomers have strengthened their communities through quiet lives of 
hard work and family and faith.
    America's welcoming society is more than a cultural tradition; it is 
a fundamental promise of our democracy. Our Constitution does not limit 
citizenship by background or birth. Instead, our Nation is bound 
together by a shared love of liberty and a conviction that all people 
are created with dignity and value. Through the generations, Americans 
have upheld that vision by welcoming new citizens from across the globe, 
and that has made us stand apart.
    One of my predecessors, President Ronald Reagan, used to say this: 
``You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You 
can go to live in Japan, but you cannot become Japanese. But anyone, 
from any corner of the world, can come to live in America and be an 
American.''
    The new Americans we welcome today include men and women from 20 
countries on 5 continents. Their ages range from 18 to 59, and they work 
as teachers and small-business managers and nurses and software 
engineers and other professions.
    One new citizen is Veronica Pacheco. Veronica first came to the 
United States from Bolivia 15 years ago. In 2000, she moved here 
permanently and found a job at a catering company in Virginia. Every 
Friday and Saturday, she spent 5 hours studying English at the local 
community college. Over the years, she saved enough money to buy her own 
townhouse. Here's what Veronica says about America: ``This is a country 
of opportunity. If you want to be successful, you can do it. You can 
have your dreams come true here.''
    Another new citizen is Maisoon Shahin. Maisoon grew up in Kuwait and 
moved to the United States with her husband 7 years ago. She enrolled in 
the community college to improve her English, took a job teaching 
marines to speak Arabic. Here's what Maisoon said: ``The United States 
is a symbol of justice, freedom, and liberty. I love that. Here they 
respect people because they are people. I feel I am honored, and I feel 
that I'm loved.''
    America is stronger and more dynamic when we welcome new citizens 
like Maisoon and Veronica to our democracy. With that in mind, I've 
called on Congress to increase the number of green cards that can lead 
to citizenship. I support increasing the number of visas available for 
foreign-born workers in highly skilled fields like science, medicine, 
and technology. I've signed legislation creating a new Office of 
Citizenship at the Department of Homeland Security to promote knowledge 
of citizenship rights and procedures.
    And after September the 11th, I signed an Executive order making 
foreign-born members of our military immediately eligible for 
citizenship, because those willing to risk their lives for our democracy 
should be full participants in our democracy.
    Over the past 4 years, more than 20,000 men and women in uniform 
have become citizens of the country they serve. They've taken the 
citizenship oath on the decks of aircraft carriers, on deployments to 
Afghanistan and Iraq, and at military bases around the world. At 
Bethesda Naval Medical Center, I watched a brave marine born in Mexico 
raise his right hand and become a citizen of the country he had defended 
in uniform for more than 26 years. It's a privilege to be the Commander 
in Chief of men and women like these, and I'm proud to call them fellow 
citizens.
    All who swear the oath of citizenship are doing more than completing 
a legal process; they're making a lifelong pledge to support the values 
and the laws of America. The pledge comes with great privileges, and it 
also comes with great responsibilities. I believe every new citizen has 
an obligation to learn the customs and values that define our Nation, 
including liberty and civic responsibility, equality under God, 
tolerance for others, and the English language.
    Those of us who have been citizens for many years have 
responsibilities as well. Helping new citizens assimilate is a mission 
that unites Americans by choice and by birth. I appreciate the work of 
patriotic organizations like the Daughters of the American Revolution. 
Some of the new Americans here today might have used DAR's Manual for 
Citizenship to prepare you for the citizenship test. They obviously did 
a pretty good job, since you passed. [Laughter]

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    Many other organizations, from churches to businesses to civic 
organizations, are answering the call to help new citizens succeed in 
our country, and I am grateful for all those who reach out to people who 
are going to become citizens.
    Government is doing its part to help new citizens succeed as well. 
The Office of Citizenship has created a new official guide for 
immigrants. This free publication includes practical advice on tasks 
like finding housing and jobs or enrolling your children in school or 
paying taxes.
    We're conducting outreach programs with faith-based and community 
groups to offer civics and English language courses. My administration 
will continue to pursue policies that open a path to education and jobs, 
promote ownership, and to give every citizen a chance to realize the 
American Dream.
    Our Nation is now in the midst of the debate on immigration policy, 
and it's good. Immigration is an important topic. Immigration is also an 
emotional topic, and we need to maintain our perspective as we conduct 
this debate. At its core, immigration is a sign of a confident and 
successful nation. It says something about our country that people 
around the world are willing to leave their homes and leave their 
families and risk everything to come to America. Their talent and hard 
work and love of freedom have helped make America the leader of the 
world. And our generation will ensure that America remains a beacon of 
liberty and the most hopeful society the world has ever known.
    America is a nation of immigrants, and we're also a nation of laws. 
All of you are here because you followed the rules, and you waited your 
turn in the citizenship line. Yet some violate our immigration laws and 
enter our country illegally, and that undermines the system for all of 
us. America should not have to choose between being a welcoming society 
and being a lawful society. We can be both at the same time. And so, to 
keep the promise of America, we must enforce the laws of America.
    We must also reform those laws. No one is served by an immigration 
system that allows large numbers of people to sneak across the border 
illegally. Nobody benefits when illegal immigrants live in the shadows 
of society. Everyone suffers when people seeking to provide for their 
families are left at the mercy of criminals or stuffed in the back of 
18-wheelers or abandoned in the desert to die. America needs 
comprehensive immigration reform.
    I've laid out a proposal for comprehensive immigration reform that 
includes three critical elements: securing the border, strengthening 
immigration enforcement inside our country, and creating a temporary-
worker program. These elements depend on and reinforce one another, and 
together they will give America an immigration system that meets the 
needs of the 21st century.
    The first element is securing our border. Our immigration system 
cannot function if we cannot control the border. Illegal immigration 
puts a strain on law enforcement and public resources, especially in our 
border communities. Our Nation is also fighting a war on terror, and 
terrorists crossing the border could create destruction on a massive 
scale. The responsibility of Government is clear: We must enforce the 
border.
    Since I took office, we've increased funding for border security by 
66 percent. We've expanded the Border Patrol to more than 12,000 agents, 
an increase of more than 2,700 agents. And the budget next year funds 
another 1,500 new agents. We're helping these dedicated men and women do 
their jobs by providing them with cutting-edge technology like infrared 
cameras, advanced motion sensors, and unmanned aerial vehicles. We're 
installing protective infrastructure, such as vehicle barriers and 
fencing in urban areas, to prevent people from crossing the border 
illegally. And we're integrating manpower and technology and 
infrastructure in more unified ways than ever. Our objective is to keep 
the border open to trade and tourism and closed to criminals and drug 
dealers and terrorists.
    Our strategy to secure the border is getting results. Since I took 
office, our agents have apprehended and sent home more than 6 million 
people entering this country illegally, including more than 400,000 with 
criminal records. Federal, State, and local and travel enforcement 
officials are working side by side. Through the Arizona Border Control 
Initiative, we apprehended more than

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600,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona last year. The men and women of 
our Border Patrol have made good progress, but we have much more work 
ahead, and we cannot be satisfied until we're in full control of the 
border.
    We're also changing the way we process those we catch crossing the 
border illegally. More than 85 percent of the illegal immigrants we 
apprehend are from Mexico, and most are sent back home within 24 hours. 
We face a different challenge with non-Mexicans. For decades, Government 
detention facilities did not have enough beds for the non-Mexican 
illegal immigrants caught at the border, and so most were released back 
into society. They were each assigned a court date, but virtually nobody 
showed up. This practice of catch-and-release is unwise, and my 
administration is going to end it.
    To end catch-and-release, we're increasing the number of beds and 
detention facilities by 12 percent this year and by another 32 percent 
next year. We're also expanding our use of a process called expedited 
removal, which allows us to send non-Mexican illegal immigrants home 
more quickly.
    Last year, it took an average of 66 days to process one of these 
illegal immigrants. Now, we're doing it in 21 days. The goal is to 
increase the process faster. It's helped us end the catch-and-release 
for illegal immigrants from Brazil and Guatemala, Honduras, and 
Nicaragua caught crossing our Southwest border. And since last summer, 
we've cut the number of non-Mexican illegal immigrants released in 
society by more than a third. We've set a goal to end catch-and-release 
over the next year. I look forward to working with Congress to close 
loopholes that makes it difficult for us to process illegal immigrants 
from certain countries. And we will continue to press foreign 
Governments like China to take back their citizens who have entered our 
country illegally.
    When illegal immigrants know they're going to be caught and sent 
home, they will be less likely to break the rules in the first place. 
And the system will be more orderly and secure for those who follow the 
law.
    The second part of a comprehensive immigration reform is 
strengthening enforcement of our laws in the interior of our country. 
Since I took office, we've increased funding for immigration enforcement 
by 42 percent, and these resources have helped our agents bring to 
justice some very dangerous people: smugglers, terrorists, gang members, 
and human traffickers. For example, through Operation Community Shield, 
Federal agents have arrested nearly 2,300 gang members who were here 
illegally, including violent criminals like the members of MS-13.
    Better interior enforcement also requires better worksite 
enforcement. Businesses have an obligation to abide by the law. The 
Government has the responsibility to help them do so. Last year, I 
signed legislation to more than double the resources dedicated to 
worksite enforcement. We'll continue to confront the problem of document 
fraud, because hard-working businessowners should not have to act as 
detectives to verify the status of their workers.
    Next month, we're going to launch law enforcement task forces in 11 
major cities to dismantle document fraud rings. We're working to shut 
down the forgers who create the phony documents, to stop the smugglers 
who traffic in human beings, and to ensure that American businesses are 
compliant with American law.
    The third part of comprehensive immigration reform is to make the 
system more rational, orderly, and secure by creating a new temporary-
worker program. This program would provide a legal way to match willing 
foreign workers with willing American employers to fill the jobs that 
Americans are unwilling to do. Workers should be able to register for 
legal status on a temporary basis. If they decide to apply for 
citizenship, they would have to get in line. This program would help 
meet the demands of a growing economy and would allow honest workers to 
provide for their families while respecting the law.
    A temporary-worker program is vital to securing our border. By 
creating a separate legal channel for those entering America to do an 
honest day's labor, we would dramatically reduce the number of people 
trying to sneak back and forth across the border. That would help take 
the pressure off the border and free up law enforcement to focus on the

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greatest threats to our security, which are criminals and drug dealers 
and terrorists.
    The program would also improve security by creating tamper-proof 
identification cards that would allow us to keep track of every 
temporary worker who is here on a legal basis and help us identify those 
who are here illegally.
    One thing the temporary-worker program should not do is provide 
amnesty for people who are in our country illegally. I believe granting 
amnesty would be unfair, because it would allow those who break the law 
to jump ahead of people like you all, people who play by the rules and 
have waited in the line for citizenship.
    Amnesty would also be unwise, because it would encourage future 
waves of illegal immigration, it would increase pressure on the border 
and make it difficult for law enforcement to focus on those who mean us 
harm. For the sake of justice and border security, I firmly oppose 
amnesty.
    This week, the Senate plans to consider legislation on immigration 
reform. Congress needs to pass a comprehensive bill that secures the 
border, improves interior enforcement, and creates a temporary-worker 
program to strengthen our security and our economy. Completing a 
comprehensive bill is not going to be easy. It will require all of us in 
Washington to make tough choices and make compromises, and that is 
exactly what the American people sent us here to do.
    As we move toward the process, we also have a chance to move beyond 
tired choices and the harsh attitudes of the past. The immigration 
debate should be conducted in a civil and dignified way. No one should 
play on people's fears or try to pit neighbors against each other. No 
one should pretend that immigrants are threats to American identity 
because immigrants have shaped America's identity.
    No one should claim that immigrants are a burden on our economy 
because the work and enterprise of immigrants helps sustain our economy. 
We should not give into pessimism. If we work together, I'm confident we 
can meet our duty to fix our immigration system and deliver a bill that 
protects our people, upholds our laws, and makes our people proud.
    It's a joyful day for all of you, and it's one you'll always 
remember. When you came here this morning, I was the President of 
another country. Now I'm the President of your country, and I'm grateful 
for that honor. I wish you good luck as citizens of the greatest Nation 
on the face of the Earth.
    May God bless you and your families, and may God continue to bless 
America. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:12 a.m. at the DAR Administration 
Building. In his remarks, he referred to Alfonso Aguilar, Chief, Office 
of Citizenship, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these 
remarks.