[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 15 (Monday, April 16, 2007)]
[Pages 431-435]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Border Security and Immigration Reform in Yuma

April 9, 2007

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you all very much. Please be 
seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for the warm weather. 
[Laughter]
    Audience member. Twenty-eight degrees in Washington.
    The President. Yes, 28 degrees in Washington; that's right. I 
appreciate you sharing that with me. [Laughter] Sometimes it's a little 
hotter than that in Washington. [Laughter] But I'm glad to be back here 
in Yuma. Thank you so very much for your hospitality. Thanks for your 
service to the country. I appreciate so very much the work you're doing 
day and night to protect these borders. And the American people owe you 
a great debt of gratitude.
    The Border Patrol is really an important agency. I know some people 
are wondering whether or not it makes sense to join the Border Patrol. 
My answer is, I've gotten to know the Border Patrol; I know the people 
serving in this fine agency--I would strongly urge our fellow citizens 
to take a look at this profession. You're outdoors; you're working with 
good people; and you're making a solid contribution to the United States 
of America. And I want to thank you all for wearing the uniform and 
doing the tough work necessary, the work that the American people expect 
you to do.
    Last May, I visited this section of the border, and it was then that 
I talked about the need for our Government to give you the manpower and 
resources you need to do your job. We were understaffed here. We weren't 
using enough technology to enable those who work here to be able to do 
the job the American people expect. I returned to check on the progress, 
to make sure that the check wasn't in the mail--it, in fact, had been 
delivered.
    I went to a neighborhood that abuts up against the border when I was 
here in May. It's the place where a lot of people came charging across. 
One or two agents would be trying to do their job and stopping a flood 
of folks charging into Arizona, and they couldn't do the job--just 
physically impossible. Back at this site, there's now infrastructure; 
there's fencing. And the amount of people trying to cross the border at 
that spot is down significantly.
    I appreciate very much Ron Colburn and Ulay Littleton. They gave me 
the tour. Colburn, as you know, is heading up north. He's going to miss 
the weather. [Laughter] More importantly, he's going to miss the folks 
he worked with down here. I appreciate both of their service; I 
appreciate the tour. The efforts are working. This border is more 
secure, and America is safer as a result.
    Securing the border is a critical part of a strategy for 
comprehensive immigration reform. It is a important part of a reform 
that is necessary so that the Border Patrol agents down here can do 
their job more effectively. Congress is going to take up the legislation 
on immigration. It is a matter of national interest, and it's a matter 
of deep conviction for me. I've been working to bring Republicans and 
Democrats together to resolve outstanding issues so that Congress can 
pass a comprehensive bill and I can sign it into law this year.
    I appreciate the hard work of Secretary Michael Chertoff, the 
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. I appreciate 
Commissioner Ralph Basham. He's the main man in charge of U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection. David Aguilar, Chief of the Border Patrol, is 
with us. David, thank you for the job you're doing. Lieutenant General 
Steven Blum, Chief of the National Guard Bureau--I want to thank the 
Governor of the State of Arizona, Janet Napolitano. I appreciate you 
being here, Governor. Thank you for taking time from the session to be 
down here. And it means a lot when the Governors take a active interest 
in what's going on in the borders of their respective States.
    I appreciate so very much Senator Jon Kyl. Kyl is one of the most 
respected United

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States Senators, and I'm proud to be with him today--and glad to give 
him a ride back to Washington, I might add. [Laughter]
    I appreciate members of the congressional delegation who have joined 
us: John Shadegg; Jeff Flake--from Snowflake, Arizona, I want you to 
know--[laughter]--and I appreciate you working on this immigration 
issue; Congressman Trent Franks; and Congressman Harry Mitchell. I 
appreciate you all taking time for being here with me today. It means a 
lot that you've come.
    I want to thank Senator Tim Bee--he's the president of the Arizona 
State Senate--for being here. Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming. Larry 
Nelson, the mayor of Yuma, Arizona--I appreciate you being here, Mr. 
Mayor.
    I do want to thank Major General David Rataczak. He's the Adjutant 
General of the State of Arizona; thank all the local and State 
officials. Most importantly, I want to thank the Border Patrol agents 
and I want to thank the National Guard folks for wearing the uniform. I 
am proud to be the Commander in Chief of all these units here today, and 
I appreciate your service to the United States of America.
    I hope by now the American people understand the need for 
comprehensive immigration reform is a clear need. Illegal immigration is 
a serious problem--you know it better than anybody. It puts pressure on 
the public schools and the hospitals, not only here in our border States 
but States around the country. It drains the State and local budgets. I 
was talking to the Governor about how it strained the budgets. 
Incarceration of criminals who are here illegally strains the Arizona 
budget. But there's a lot of other ways it strains the local and State 
budgets. It brings crime to our communities.
    It's a problem, and we need to address it aggressively. This problem 
has been growing for decades, and past efforts to address it have 
failed. These failures helped create a perception that America was not 
serious about enforcing our immigration laws and that they could be 
broken without consequence. Past efforts at reform did not do enough to 
secure our Nation's borders. As a result, many people have been able to 
sneak into this country.
    If you don't man your borders and don't protect your borders, people 
are going to sneak in, and that's what's been happening for a long time. 
Past efforts at reform failed to address the underlying economic reasons 
behind illegal immigration. People will make great sacrifices to get 
into this country to find jobs and provide for their families.
    When I was the Governor of Texas, I used to say, family values did 
not stop at the Rio Grande River. People are coming here to put food on 
the table, and they're doing jobs Americans are not doing. And the 
farmers in this part of the world understand exactly what I'm saying. 
But so do a lot of other folks around the country. People are coming to 
work, and many of them have no lawful way to come to America, and so 
they're sneaking in.
    Past efforts at reform also failed to provide sensible ways for 
employers to verify the legal status of the workers they hire. It's 
against the law to knowingly hire an illegal alien. And as a result, 
because they couldn't verify the legal status, it was difficult for 
employers to comply. It was difficult for the government to enforce the 
laws at the worksite, and yet it is a necessary part of a comprehensive 
plan. You see, the lessons of all these experiences--the lesson of these 
experiences is clear: All elements of the issue must be addressed 
together. You can't address just one aspect and not be able to say to 
the American people that we're securing our borders.
    We need a comprehensive bill, and that's what I'm working with 
Members of Congress on, a comprehensive immigration bill. And now is the 
year to get it done. The first element, of course, is to secure this 
border. That's what I'm down here for, to remind the American people 
that we're spending their taxpayer--their money, taxpayers' money, on 
securing the border. And we're making progress. This border should be 
open to trade and lawful immigration and shut down to criminals and drug 
dealers and terrorists and coyotes and smugglers, people who prey on 
innocent life.
    We more than doubled the funding for border security since I've been 
the President. In other words, it's one thing to hear people come down 
here and talk; it's another thing for people to come down and do what 
they

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say they're going to do. And I want to thank Congress for working on 
this issue. The funding is increasing manpower. The additional funding 
is increasing infrastructure, and it's increasing technology.
    When I landed here at the airport, the first thing I saw was an 
unmanned aerial vehicle. It's a sophisticated piece of equipment. You 
can fly it from inside a truck, and you can look at people moving at 
night. It's the most sophisticated technology we have, and it's down 
here on the border to help the Border Patrol agents do their job. We've 
expanded the number of Border Patrol agents from about 9,000 to 13,000, 
and by the end of 2008, we're going to have a total of more than 18,000 
agents.
    I had the privilege of going to Artesia, New Mexico, to the training 
center. It was a fantastic experience to see the young cadets getting 
ready to come and to wear the green of the Border Patrol. By the time 
we're through, we will have doubled the size of the Border Patrol. In 
other words, you can't do the job the American people expect unless you 
got enough manpower, and we're increasing the manpower down here.
    This new technology is really important to, basically, leverage the 
manpower. Whether it be the technology of surveillance and 
communication--we're going to make sure the agents have got what is 
necessary to be able to establish a common picture and get information 
out to the field as quickly as possible so that those 18,000 agents, 
when they're finally on station, can do the job the American people 
expect.
    But manpower can't do it alone. In other words, there has to be some 
infrastructure along the border to be able to let these agents do their 
job. And so I appreciate the fact that we've got double fencing, all-
weather roads, new lighting, mobile cameras. The American people have no 
earthly idea what's going on down here. One of the reasons I've come is 
to let you know--let the taxpayers know, the good folks down here are 
making progress.
    We've worked with our Nation's Governors to deploy 6,000 National 
Guard members to provide the Border Patrol with immediate 
reinforcements. In other words, it takes time to train the Border 
Patrol, and until they're fully trained, we've asked the Guard to come 
down. It's called Operation Jump Start, and the Guard down here is 
serving nobly.
    I had the chance to visit with some of the Guard, and, Mr. Mayor, 
you'll be pleased to hear, they like being down here in Yuma, Arizona. 
[Laughter] They like the people, and they like the mission. More than 
600 members of the Guard are serving here in the Yuma Sector. And I 
thank the Guard, and equally importantly, I thank their families for 
standing by the men and women who wear the uniform during this 
particular mission. And you e-mail them back home and tell them how much 
I appreciate the fact they're standing by you.
    I appreciate very much the fact that illegal border crossings in 
this area are down. In the months before Operation Jump Start, an 
average of more than 400 people a day were apprehended trying to cross 
here. The number has dropped to fewer than 140 a day. In other words, 
one way that the Border Patrol can tell whether or not we're making 
progress is the number of apprehensions. When you're apprehending fewer 
people, it means fewer are trying to come across. And fewer are trying 
to come across because we're deterring people from attempting illegal 
border crossings in the first place.
    I appreciate what Colburn says--he puts it this way: ``They're 
watching. They see us watching them,'' that's what he said, ``and they 
have decided they just can't get across.'' And that's part of the effort 
we're doing. We're saying, we're going to make it harder for you, so 
don't try in the first place.
    We're seeing similar results all across the southern border. The 
number of people apprehended for illegally crossing our southern border 
is down by nearly 30 percent this year. We're making progress. And 
thanks for your hard work. It's hard work but necessary work.
    Another important deterrent to illegal immigration is to end what 
was called catch-and-release. I know how this discouraged some of our 
Border Patrol agents; I talked to them personally. They worked hard to 
find somebody sneaking in the country; they apprehended them; the next 
thing they know,

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they're back in society on our side of the border.
    There's nothing more discouraging than have somebody risk their life 
or work hard and have the fruits of their labor undermined. And that's 
what was happening with catch-and-release. In other words, we'd catch 
people, and we'd say, ``Show up for your court date,'' and they wouldn't 
show up for their court date. That shouldn't surprise anybody, but 
that's what was happening. And the reason why that was happening is 
because we didn't have enough beds to detain people.
    Now, most of the people we apprehend down here are from Mexico. 
About 85 percent of the illegal immigrants caught crossing into--
crossing this border are Mexicans--crossing the southern border are 
Mexicans. And they're sent home within 24 hours. It's the illegal 
immigrants from other countries that are not that easy to send home.
    For many years, the government didn't have enough space, and so 
Michael and I worked with Congress to increase the number of beds 
available. So that excuse was eliminated. The practice has been 
effectively ended. Catch-and-release for every non-Mexican has been 
effectively ended. And I want to thank the Border Patrol and the leaders 
of the Border Patrol for allowing me to stand up and say that's the 
case.
    And the reason why is, not only do we have beds; we've expedited the 
legal process to cut the average deportation time. Now, these are non-
Mexican, illegal aliens that we've caught trying to sneak into our 
country. We're making it clear to foreign governments that they must 
accept back their citizens who violate our immigration laws. I said 
we're going to effectively end catch-and-release, and we have. And I 
appreciate your hard work in doing that.
    The second element of a comprehensive immigration reform is a 
temporary-worker program. You cannot fully secure the border until we 
take pressure off the border. And that requires a temporary-worker 
program. It seems to make sense to me that if you've got people coming 
here to do jobs Americans aren't doing, we need to figure out a way that 
they can do so in a legal basis for a temporary period of time. And that 
way our Border Patrol can chase the criminals and the drug runners, 
potential terrorists, and not have to try to chase people who are coming 
here to do work Americans are not doing.
    If you want to take the pressure off your border, have a temporary-
worker program. It will help not only reduce the number of people coming 
across the border, but it will do something about the inhumane treatment 
that these people are subjected to. There's a whole smuggling 
operation--you know this better than I do. There's a bunch of smugglers 
that use the individual as a piece of--as a commodity. And they make 
money off these poor people, and they stuff them in the back of 18-
wheelers, and they find hovels for them to hide in. And there's a whole 
industry that has sprung up. And it seems like to me that since this 
country respects human rights and the human condition, that it be a 
great contribution to eliminate this thuggery, to free these people from 
this kind of extortion that they go through. And one way to do so is to 
say, ``You can come and work in our country for jobs Americans aren't 
doing, for a temporary period of time.''
    The third element of a comprehensive reform is to hold employers 
accountable for the workers they hire. In other words, if you want to 
make sure that we've got a system in which people are not violating the 
law, then you've got to make sure we hold people to account, like 
employers. Enforcing immigration is a vital part of any successful 
reform. And so Chertoff and his department are cracking down on 
employers who knowingly violate the law.
    But not only are there coyotes smuggling people in; there are 
document forgers that are making a living off these people. So, in other 
words, people may want to comply with the law, but it's very difficult 
at times to verify the legal status of their employees. And so to make 
the worksite enforcement practical on a larger scale, we have got to 
issue a tamper-proof identification card for illegal--for legal foreign 
workers. And we must create a better system for employers to verify the 
legality of the workers. In other words, we got work to do. And part of 
a comprehensive bill is to make sure worksite enforcement is effective.

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    Fourth, we've got to resolve the status of millions of illegal 
immigrants already here in the country. People who entered our country 
illegally should not be given amnesty. Amnesty is the forgiveness of an 
offense without penalty. I oppose amnesty, and I think most people in 
the United States Congress oppose amnesty. People say, ``Why not have 
amnesty?'' Well, the reason why is because you--10 years from now, you 
don't want to have a President having to address the next 11 million 
people who might be here illegally. That's why you don't want amnesty. 
And secondly, we're a nation of law, and we expect people to uphold the 
law.
    And so we're working closely with Republicans and Democrats to find 
a practical answer that lies between granting automatic citizenship to 
every illegal immigrant and deporting every illegal immigrant. It is 
impractical to take the position that, oh, we'll just find the 11 
million or 12 million people and send them home. That's just an 
impractical position; it's not going to work. It may sound good. It may 
make nice sound-bite news. It won't happen.
    And therefore, we need to work together to come up with a practical 
solution to this problem, and I know people in Congress are working hard 
on this issue. Illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want 
to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law and 
pay their taxes and learn the English language and show work--show that 
they've worked in a job for a number of years. People who meet a 
reasonable number of conditions and pay a penalty of time and money 
should be able to apply for citizenship. But approval would not be 
automatic, and they would have to wait in line behind those who played 
by the rules and followed the law. What I've described is a way for 
those who've broken the law to pay their debt to society and demonstrate 
the character that makes a good citizen.
    Finally, we have got to honor the tradition of the melting pot and 
help people assimilate into our society by learning our history, our 
values, and our language. Last June, I created a new task force to look 
for ways to help newcomers assimilate and succeed in our country. Many 
organizations, from churches to businesses to civic associations, are 
working to answer this call, and I'm grateful for their service.
    And so here are the outlines for a comprehensive immigration reform 
bill. It's an emotional issue, as I'm sure you can imagine. People have 
got deep convictions. And my hope is that we can have a serious and 
civil and conclusive debate. And so we'll continue to work with members 
of both political parties. I think the atmosphere up there is good right 
now. I think people generally want to come together and put a good bill 
together--one, by the way, that will make your job a lot easier.
    It's important that we address this issue in good faith. And it's 
important for people to listen to everybody's positions. And it's 
important for people not to give up, no matter how hard it looks from a 
legislative perspective. It's important that we get a bill done. We 
deserve a system that secures our borders and honors our proud history 
as a nation of immigrants.
    And so I can't think of a better place to come and to talk about the 
good work that's being done and the important work that needs to be done 
in Washington, DC, and that's right here in Yuma, Arizona, a place full 
of decent, hard-working, honorable people. May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:21 a.m. at the Yuma Sector Headquarters, 
U.S. Border Patrol. In his remarks, he referred to Ronald S. Colburn, 
Chief Patrol Agent, Yuma Sector, U.S. Border Patrol; and Brig. Gen. Ulay 
W. Littleton, Jr., USAF, chief of staff, Headquarters, Arizona Air 
National Guard, and Arizona joint task force commander, Operation Jump 
Start. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of these remarks.