News (Noticias) Tagged ‘Carlos Gutierrez’

Secretary Chertoff: Good afternoon everybody. I am joined here by Secretary Gutierrez, the Secretary of Commerce, who I am delighted to have with me. As you probably remember, last August we promised to provide regular updates to the American people on our efforts to secure the border, enforce immigration laws and meet the needs of our economy by reforming temporary worker programs to the extent the current laws permit us to do so.

This will be the third update since the administration announced our 26 immigration reform and transformation initiatives in the wake of the failure of comprehensive immigration reform to pass Congress last year. Today we are going to highlight three major areas: first our continued progress at the border, second our continued efforts to provide employers with better tools to maintain a legal workforce and third, our efforts to strengthen and make more efficient our foreign temporary worker programs.

In each area you will see clear evidence of our progress, and of our commitment to address the nation’s immigration challenges using the tools, resources and authorities at our disposal. But again we will remind you that the need to address this program more comprehensively by Congress remains. And we hope Congress will in the very near future turn to this issue once again.

As in the past, I would like to begin by highlighting our efforts at the border itself, specifically fence construction, border patrol hiring and technology. As you will see, we currently have slightly less than 330 miles of fencing that’s been built. And we are moving toward our goal of 670 miles of fencing by the end of calendar year 2008.

We continue to work with landowners on the southern border to gain the access we need to conduct surveys and make decisions about the right kind of infrastructure to deploy on our border. We have had several hundred meetings, including town halls and meetings with individual landowners. We continue to be open to good-faith discussion about alternatives. But what we are not open to is endless debate or delay. We have an objective that Congress has mandated. It is our intention to meet that objective and to fulfill our obligation to the American people to get this fencing built.

With respect to border patrol staffing, you will see a dramatic increase since the President took office in fiscal year 2002. We have gone from 9,800 border patrol to our current border patrol numbers of 16,471. That by the way, is an over-5,000 Border Patrol agent increase from where we were when we announced the beginning of this effort as part of our Secure Border Initiative.

And we are on track to meet our goal of over 18,000 border patrol agents by the end of this calendar year. Again we are going to continue to post on our web site on the metrics of our progress towards achieving this goal. And we are achieving the goal without compromising on the standard of training, which is so necessary for those agents who are going to be working the very demanding environment of our border.

One of the special initiatives I would like to highlight is Operation Streamline. And this is a particular initiative under which all aliens caught crossing the border in designated high-traffic zones are actually criminally prosecuted before they are deported as part of an administrative process. This of course is a project we undertake in partnership with the Department of Justice and particular prosecutors who work with us to present these cases to the courts.

We initiated Operation Streamline in the Del Rio sector of Texas in December 2005, expanded it to Yuma in December 2006, and further expanded it to Laredo sector in October 2007. The results of this criminal prosecution initiative have been striking. We have seen significant reductions and apprehensions, a decrease in the recidivism rate of aliens prosecuted under the program, meaning once they get prosecuted, they stop trying to come in again, and a reduction in smuggling — in smuggling organizations and illegal entries in the relevant urban areas.

If you look at apprehensions, you could see a steady decrease from the time we began these initiatives to the present. The reason this works is because these illegal migrants come to realize that violating the law will not simply send them back to try over again, but will require them to actually serve some short period of time in a jail or prison setting. And will brand them as having been violators of the law.

And that has a very significant deterrent impact. In this regard, I want to thank the Department of Justice, which very recently announced a plan to higher an additional 64 prosecutors and 34 — 35 support staff to help with our various immigration-focused law enforcement initiatives at the Southwest border.

Apart from fencing, apart from people, a very important enabler is technology. And we continue to invest resources to develop, install and integrate our SBInet technology solutions to help Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol get effective control of our nation’s border.

Some weeks back there was a lot of discussion about a prototype project known as Project 28. But contrary to some of the down-beat media reports, Project 28 produced a functioning prototype system that added value to the Border Patrol effort and that we are now prepared to actually operationally deploy in two parts of the border in Arizona.

In fact, as reported on May 8 in The Houston Chronicle, visits down to the border by two members of Congress, members of our Homeland Security Committee Representative Sheila Jackson Lee and Representative Christopher Carney, actually had them observe with approval a lot of the progress that has been made and the value that has been added by this technology project. As a consequence, we plan to award the Arizona Deployment Task Order contract to Boeing to install the first operational configuration of this concept in two areas within the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol. This is, of course, a concept that envisions fixed towers with radar, sensors and remote-controlled camera equipment, unattended ground sensors, and common operating picture equipment and software.

In addition to this, we will continue to roll out our ground-based mobile surveillance systems. We have our four unmanned aerial vehicles operating, and we continue to deploy independent ground sensors. Do these efforts work? The answer is yes. We continue to see a decrease in apprehensions period as compared to the same period in prior years, 16 percent on the Southwest border and 15 percent overall.

Don’t take my word for it. The words of the San Francisco Chronicle on May 16: “The tightening of the border has made it increasingly difficult, dangerous and expensive for laborers to return to the United States if they leave, disrupting the traditional circular flow of farm workers from Mexico to California’s fields into Salinas’ central valleys.”

The Financial Times June 4: “After nearly a decade of double-digit increases, remittances into Mexico have begun to decline. It appears that laws to crack down on Illegal workers are having an impact.” And a recent survey by the Inter-American Development Bank found that the number of Latino immigrants sending remittances home from the U.S. dropped from 73 percent to 50 percent in the past three years. This is attributed at least in part to this increased enforcement of the rules in the interior.

Now there is a negative metric, or a metric that while showing progress is an unhappy one. And that is the increase in border violence. As we have consistently predicted, when enforcement increases, when criminal organizations feel that their criminal businesses are being injured, they will fight back, and they will fight back with violence. Regrettably therefore, violence has continued to increase over the last several months as a consequence of this greater tempo of enforcement.

This fiscal year 744 incidents of violence have been perpetrated against Border Patrol agents, a 26 percent increase over the same time last year. Some of these attacks have shown a remarkable, callous disregard for human life, including one incident where an agent was literally struck and murdered by a vehicle fleeing into Mexico driven by a smuggler. I had the occasion to meet with the family of this agent shortly after he died as a result of this homicide. And I assured them we were going to continue to do everything we can to protect the Border Patrol as they work to protect the American people.

I also have to observe that as a consequence of President Calderon’s courageous and determined decision to proceed after the organized crime cartels on the Mexican side of the border, they have also seen an uptake in violence in Mexico. Hundreds of Mexican law enforcement officers have lost their lives or been attacked by violent drug cartels, including senior officials of the law enforcement establishment. President Calderon should be applauded for his efforts to dismantle these drug cartels and criminal organizations who are literally fighting to control portions of Mexico south of the border.

But we have to do more than applaud his work. We have to actually encourage it and assist it, and support his work as good partners with Mexico, dedicated to dealing with these organized crime organizations. And in these regard I want to call attention to the Merida initiative. We urge Congress to continue to move to pass practice appropriations legislation that will allow this very important plan to get over a half a billion dollars in money this year into Mexico to support this courageous effort to fight drug and organized crime violence.

We have a unique opportunity, one that may not come again, to partner with a determined leader in Mexico, so that we can address a shared problem in a partnership way that we cannot afford to ignore. Now of course we are not only focused on efforts to control the border between the ports of entry, we are increasing our security and our efficiency at the ports of entry themselves. We continue to move forward with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which is slated to go into effect in June 2009 at our land and sea ports of entry.

As you will remember, this initiative reduces the types of identification that can be presented at the border so that we get to a requirement of reliable identification for people who want to enter the United States. And it also has eliminated the old system of allowing people to simply orally declare their citizenship and get waved on through.

We have already implemented the first part of our effort to shrink the kind of acceptable documentation at our airports, and compliance has been close to 100 percent. Likewise, as we’ve increased the rigor of our requirements at the land and sea borders, we have found very high compliance rates. And we are working hard to increase the type of reliable documents, and the number of reliable documents which Americans and Canadians can use once this Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative gets implemented in June of next year.

For example, the new pass-card being issued by the State Department has received more than 200,000 applications, and production is set to begin this month. I have applied for one myself. I hope you have to, or you will shortly Secretary Gutierrez. What these cards are going to do is not be more reliable, but they will be faster, because instead of having to read a driver’s license, there will be a machine-readables only. You can simply zip through a machine-reader, which will make the process and times faster.

The states have also stepped up and become part of the solution to this issue of secure documentation. The state of Washington is currently issuing its own version of an approved, enhanced driver’s license that will be acceptable at the border. New York has announced that it has completed its business plan to begin producing those enhanced driver’s licenses. And other states are on the way to doing so as well.

As we move away from the borders, we have to also look at the issue of how we enforce the law of the interior, because we know that only by promoting a legal workforce can we reduce the incentives for people to come in illegally in order to do work in this country.

One critical tool for our success is giving the employer the means to check whether the applicant for a job is in fact presenting a valid social security number and name that match what is in our government databases. And the tool used to do this is E-Verify. This system has been a tremendous success, and the proof of the pudding is the marketplace itself. Every week on average, about a thousand new employers join this program. And I will tell you that at this point, I will estimate that is almost — maybe actually more than ten percent of the new hires being hired in the United States are currently being run through this E-Verify system.

We have almost 70,000 employers currently enrolled. The system works. Of those workers who are legal, 99.5 percent of them roughly are verified essentially instantaneously. And if those workers who have a mismatch — legal workers who we estimate to be about a half a percent, they are able generally to resolve their issue within less than two days.

Now of course we do have some people who don’t resolve the issue of mismatch. And that’s because in fact the number and the name don’t match, and it’s not merely a clerical error. We recognize that means that they are likely to be here illegally, or be using at least a false social security number and a false name to get work. And those people frankly, shouldn’t be working.

This system is doing the job it should do. It is resolving honest mistakes in a way that protects the worker. It is also identifying those who are not permitted to work because they are not here legally. And that’s what it should do as well. Now last year Congress gave a clear vote of confidence in the program by significantly increasing our appropriation for E-Verify. Several states have also indicated that they believe E-Verify is valuable and have enacted laws encouraging or requiring their businesses to use E-Verify.

We want to continue to have congressional support for this very important program. It should be re-authorized. Funding should be expanded. And to show that we are supporting this not just with words but with deeds, last Friday the President issued an executive order that is going to significantly increase the impact of E-Verify on the federal contracting workforce, because after all if we expect private employers to use E-Verify, the federal government should lead by example and not merely by exhortation.

The President’s executive order directs me to designate an electronic employment eligibility verification system - and I have designated E-Verify - that federal contractors will be required to use to verify the employment eligibility of their new workforce. The President also directed that federal departments and agencies require that the federal contractors use that E-Verify system to check the work authorization of the new hires and all their employees assigned to work on federal contracts.

E-Verify, working with these other agencies, is going to give these contractors the tools they need to make sure that workers who were hired to work on federal contracts are legal workers. It is always embarrassing frankly, when we have these periodic operations in which we discover illegal workers working on federal projects paid for by federal money that is ultimately paid for by the taxpayer.

So we are going to make sure we finish getting our own house in order first, even as we work to continue to make sure that others in the private sector use this system. Also today OMB has concluded its review of a proposed rule amending the federal acquisition regulation to implement the President’s executive order. As with all regulations, there will be a comment period for the regulations that we are issuing, the — counsel was issuing. But we are looking forward to get this — new system up and running later this year.

Finally, we are going to continue to keep the pressure up on employers and on illegal aliens by bringing significant cases. As you know recently we brought a case against a meat-processing operation in Iowa. Almost 300 immigrants, illegal immigrants pleaded guilty to using fraudulent documents to get their jobs in an Iowa meat-processing plant. That means they took the identities of innocent Americans and misused those identities. And at least in some instances, caused damage to the innocent American whose identity was stolen.

For those who say that we are only focusing on the illegal workers themselves, I point out that last year we had over 90 employers, or those in a supervisory chain who were convicted of crimes. We have had one CEO or President of a company sent to jail for 10 years. We have had recent conviction of a union official from the United Food and Commercial Workers union for his involvement with the activities at –.

We will continue to pursue employers. I know these cases take a little bit longer. There is a — it is always more difficult to work up the chain. I can tell you as an old organized crime prosecutor and as an old drug prosecutor, you always start with the bottom ring first, then you work your way up to the top ring. But I guarantee we are continuing to work on making cases against that top ring and we will do so whenever the evidence supports bringing that kind of a case.

All I have talked about so far is enforcement. But, as we said, when we pursued the issue of comprehensive immigration, we know the American economy does need workers. And it’s going to need workers from other countries even though we have had an increase recently in unemployment. But they have got to come in a way that is legal, visible and regulated.

We currently have at least some programs that allow that to take place. And what we are trying to do now is to make those programs as accessible and as attractive as possible so that people can use the legal pathways as much as — as conveniently as possible in order to satisfy their labor needs.

Let me give you just a brief survey of some of the things we have done recently. In April we published an interim final rule that extends the total period of optional practical training from 12 to 29 months for — immigrant students with a degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, who have accepted mployment with an employer enrolled in E-Verify.

What this does is it allows us to continue to keep smart, well-educated foreign students who want to come over and ultimately get a work visa, allows us to keep them in place doing productive work while they are awaiting the work visa process. And that’s not just good for them. It actually creates jobs in the American economy for others as well. So it’s a win-win both for the students, a win-win for the employers and a win-win for American workers.

The H-1B program, which is similarly focused on getting some of the best and the brightest to get these work visas so they can work and produce, and add value to the United States. This program also has to be refined to be made more fair and more orderly. For this reason, in March of this year we published an interim final rule that prohibits the filing of duplicate — multiple H-1B petitions by a single U.S. employer for the same foreign worker.

Essentially what happened was it was like buying a lot of lottery tickets. Some people tried to hoard the marketplace, or flood the marketplace by filing duplicate — multiple applications to try to get as many of these spots as possible.

That wasn’t fair to other employers. It didn’t do the job of distributing these visas as widely as possible and as efficiently as possible in the economy, so this new regulation will act to prevent employers from flooding the system with petitions and will allow a broader array of employers to participate in a fair and more equitable fashion in this system.

I’m also pleased to announce that we will be extending the validity period of the employment authorization documents that we issue to individuals who are waiting adjustment of status to lawful permit residenture or in colloquial phrase, the green card.

Currently, adjustment applications are granted employment authorization documents with only a one year maximum validity. Beginning later this month, we’ll start issuing these documents with a two-year validity period for aliens who are waiting adjustment of status if their application is expected to be pending for more than a year.

This, again, is eliminating a persistent source of frustration for workers who are here, who have a pending adjustment application but have to go and renew their employment documents every single year. It’s going to cut the paperwork there.

Finally, I’d like to talk about the H-2B program, which relates to seasonal and temporary non-agricultural workers. As you know, the cap on this went down and we’re still awaiting Congressional action to lift the cap up, again, which is going to help not only ease applicants for jobs and not only the employers who want to hire them, but all the other people who benefit when workers produce productive activity and then the benefits ripple through the economy.

Currently, up to 66,000 foreign workers are admitted under this visa category and typical employment for H-2B workers includes landscaping, hotels, crab and clam industries, and resort areas; particularly those things which become more populated during the summer months.

As you know the Labor Department published a proposed rule in May addressing a number of bureaucratic and inefficiency concerns that had been raised about this program. But today we have sent over the Office of Management and Budget here at the Department of Homeland Security a new proposed regulation which would also propose some significant changes designed to increase the effectiveness and attractiveness of this H-2B-9 immigrant classification program.

It eliminates certain regulatory barriers, adds protection for foreign workers, and increases efficiency and coordination. It also proposes to change the definition of temporary employment to recognize that some H2B employment could last up to three years. Under this change, an employer who demonstrates a temporary need lasting no more than three years could keep the same worker in the same job for all three years provided they can demonstrate that there’s no American worker available to do that work, because we do put Americans first.

Again, it’s going to answer a complaint that we’ve heard for a long time from the business community. It implements one of the reformed proposals we tried to get done through comprehensive immigration reform, and it’s going to produce benefits not only for the employees themselves, but for everybody else who benefits when we can invigorate businesses, particularly seasonable and temporary businesses that produce benefits throughout the entire economy.

The bottom line is we’re doing what we said we were going to do last August. We’re doing tougher enforcement; more effective enforcement. We are showing results. We are trying to work with the existing law to make it as easy and non-bureaucratic as possible for temporary workers to be brought in to fill jobs American won’t fill.

In the end these are not permanent solutions. A truly permanent solution requires a more comprehensive look at the issue of immigration reform. Only Congress can take that step and although we bought some time, perhaps, this problem is going to persist until Congress grabs the nettle and decides that we’re going to put together a comprehensive immigration reform program that everybody can live with.

With that I’d like to ask Secretary Gutierrez up here.

Secretary Gutierrez: Thank you. I would like to talk a little about the business environment and what is happening in the business community as it refers to immigration and the need for immigration reform. There’s a lot of discussion about the burden of immigration but there is not enough conversation about the risk of not having enough immigrants, especially a risk to our economy and a risk to our competitive position as it relates to the rest of the world.

So as you can see from the Secretary’s comments immigration reform remains a top priority for the Bush Administration. In the absence of legislation from Congress we’ve been proactively tackling this issue head on with as many administrative actions as possible.

The American people want and deserve a thoughtful, broad-based approach to immigration that focuses on the security and the economic prosperity of our country. Last August, Secretary Chertoff and I announced a package of administrative reforms that sharpened existing tools to protect our citizens and make our immigration system more workable.

We’ve made strides in securing our border. In fact, we’ve made great strides in securing our borders and enforcing existing immigration laws. But we cannot neglect our economic security; and that’s exactly what we’re doing by not passing comprehensive immigration reform.

At a time when we are facing tough economic challenges, our actions must boost our economy, not hamper it. The reality is that we simply do not have enough workers at both ends of the spectrum and I will repeat that. Our reality as a nation is that we do not have enough workers at both ends of the spectrum. That means for low-skilled, field laborers, all the way to high-skilled technology workers.

For example, for the fifth straight year our H-1B cap was filled at or before the start of the fiscal year. This year the cap was reached in one week. That’s why, as Secretary Chertoff mentioned, we are proposing administrative reforms to our high-skilled programs and to the H-2B non-agriculture temporary worker program.

In addition, we have proposed changes to the H-2A agricultural seasonal worker program. The changes will make the H-2A system more efficient and ensure an orderly and timely flow of legal, foreign workers. They will also protect the rights of all agricultural workers, American and foreign, and make no mistake we need both. We don’t have enough domestic workers to meet the food needs of our country.

The New York Times ran an article with the headline “Shortage of Labor to Cut Food Supply: Farmers Handicapped by Lack of Help Reduce Their Crop Acreage.” That headline and the article ran in 1920. Coincidently that was amidst one of the worst anti-immigration waves that we have ever seen.

Nearly a century later we face similar challenges, but this time, rather than reduce consumption we’ll have to turn to foreign producers or move our farms overseas to feed our families. In fact, that is already happening. A survey by the U.S. Farm Group, Western Growers, indicated American companies now farm more than 45,000 acres of land in Mexico employing 11,000 people.

At a time when we are looking to further secure our food supply to tighten our import safety and to continue to increase and contribute to world supply because of the prices of food, we should not encourage the outsourcing of American agriculture. And what Congress is doing by avoiding to pass comprehensive immigration reform is effectively encouraging the outsourcing of American agriculture.

We know there are employers who have not been able to fill many jobs with American workers. We simply can’t ignore the problem and hope that the issue will go away. A comprehensive solution remains the best and the most long term option. Without it, we’re getting a piecemeal approach, which is something we talked about when we mentioned the fact that comprehensive reform had failed, we talked about the fact that we were going to get a piecemeal approach to a national issue.

For example, in 2007 states enacted 240 immigration laws. That’s up from 84 the year before. Immigration is being debated in every capital in the country. A total of 1,562 immigration bills were introduced last year. This patchwork of laws is untenable in the long term. So we will continue to look at ways to improve existing programs and address all aspects of immigration. Other major economies around the world have realized the need for immigration policy to help them grow their economies, and we are all competing for growth, and everyone is trying to grow their economies and most major economies have realized that they cannot grow without a comprehensive immigration policy.

Our country has a long history of making immigration work. We have more experience than any other nation and it has been one of our greatest advantages, if you look back through our economic history we would not have accomplished what we have accomplished if it were not for the help and the work of immigrants.

We can make immigration an advantage that will last for a century. The issue is not going to go away. Regardless of who is President and regardless of which party is in power, immigration will remain both a tough challenge but also a tremendous opportunity for our country if we get this right, if we approach it in a thoughtful way, and if we are decisive about confronting a problem that will not go away.

Thank you, and I will be happy to take your questions.

Question: Secretary, I wanted to ask you about –

Secretary Chertoff: Which Secretary; there’s two.

Question: — I’m sorry, Secretary Chertoff. I wanted to ask you about a traveler that was issued by the State Department in April that talked about what we’re talking about, the violence along the border; and they say in part it’s because of lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border, which indicates that the drug cartels you are speaking of are fighting over the routes for smuggling drugs; and I wondered what that says about securing the border when there’s so much violence and it’s related to the drug cartels which are trying to fight for routes.

Secretary Chertoff: It says a number of things. First of all, that’s typically what happens as you start to enforce and you make it harder, they start to fight over the shrinking pie, so to speak, and who gets the best opportunity to exploit what additional space is left. So that’s, in some sense, a good sign. The bad news is it causes a lot of violence and death and it’s created a lot of havoc, particularly in Mexico.

I think several lessons flow from this. First, we’ve got to get this Merida initiative agreed to and funded in a way that’s practical, that operates as a partnership as opposed to us simply dictating; and then recognizing that both countries have a common interest in securing the border.

Second, we need to make sure we’re protecting ourselves on our side of the border. That means continuing not only to enforce the law the way we’ve been doing, but continuing to make sure our border patrol has the right mix of technology and infrastructure that gives them the most protection. And one of the arguments about this fencing is not only does it keep drug smugglers and human smugglers out, it makes it harder for them to get across with loads of drugs or whatever, but it also actually protects the border patrols because it makes it harder for people to shoot at them from across the border. We’ve had occasions of that; or to otherwise commit acts of assault.

So I think the lesson is clear. We certainly can’t back down in the fact of violence. We’ve got to work with the Mexican government to continue to put the pressure on, break these cartels like we’ve done with organized crime in other settings, and we’ve got to get to our friends in Mexico the assistance and support that they need.

Question: Secretary Chertoff, about the executive order on E-verify for federal contractors, do you have somewhat of a number of how many contractors that would involve and how many workers potentially?

Secretary Chertoff: I think we were potentially talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions of workers. This is going to apply to contractors who are getting a new contract. Once this comes into effect they’re going to be required to run all their employees through E-verify. Or if they have a contract and they’re going to bring new employees onto the contract, they’re going to have to do that.

Since I can’ t predict what contracting is going to be like in the next two or three years I can’t give you a precise number, but it’s going to be at a minimum hundreds of thousands and I think maybe millions of people will be run through that program.

Question: Can you tell us whether this will cover subcontractors as well contractors?

Secretary Chertoff: I think now we’re getting into exactly the area where we’re going to wind up having to write the detailed regulation. There are all kinds of issues about what the contracting entity is, so we’re going to get into all kinds of topics that will be fascinating for the lawyers. But I’m not going to try to give the legal analysis from up here.

The basic principle is this: if you’re working for the federal government and you’re being paid with federal taxes you ought to make sure that you’re employees are obeying federal law when it comes to their employment authorization, and this executive order as implemented in detail by the regulation will do precisely that.

Question: Mr. Secretary, do you have any concerns of lately the failure of the Merida initiative not only can put at risk the struggle from the Mexican government, I guess the drug smuggling, but also can affect the current cooperation between — in securing the border.

Secretary Chertoff: I assume it’s going to succeed. I think the logic for the Merida Initiative is strong. I know that many people have been making the case for it. I’ve made the case for it. I know my cabinet colleagues have made the case for it. I know the Mexican government’s made the case for it. It seems to be indisputable that it’s a joint problem we have at the border and it’s something that we have to jointly solve. This President has not only said the right things, President Calderon; our President as well; but not only has said the right things but he’s done the right things and he’s done them at a considerable cost to some members of his government who have been the target of assassination plots. So I think we have a moral responsibility to work with the Mexican government but I also think that we have very practical self-interest reasons to work with Mexico on breaking the back of these drug organizations.

Question: And in regards to the raids and the enforcement issue, don’t you think that maybe you are affecting somehow the rights of almost 400,000 U.S. citizens which are the children of the illegal immigrants.

Secretary Chertoff: You know, it’s always very sad when a child winds up paying a price for an offense or violation of law that the parent commits, and we try to deal with the issue of arresting people in a way to make sure children are not left unattended. We recognize when people are deported they’re likely to take their young children with them, even though they’re American citizens. But we cannot allow the fact that someone who has a child who’s an American citizen to create a de facto immunity from the law. And, you know, it’s like any other violation of law. Sometimes I’ve seen situations where parents have had to go to jail for violations of the law and they’ve had children in the courtroom and the judge said, you should have thought about that when you committed the violation. So it’s a sad thing to do. Again, that’s why we talked about comprehensive immigration reform. We wanted to deal with these issues in a way that was fair and also respected the law, but the law being what it is we’re going to enforce it.

Question: Do you expect to have the border secure by the end of the Bush administration?

Secretary Chertoff: I think we’ll have made a dramatic amount of progress. I think if we continue on the course we’ve set now we can get the border secure by the border patrols definition sometime in 2011, maybe a little earlier. If we can do comprehensive immigration reform and if we could get a real temporary worker program, we could actually do it faster because that would relieve some of the pressure from the economic migrants. They would then move over and take a legal pathway instead of an illegal pathway. But if we don’t have that tool it’s going to take a little bit longer, but I think we can get it done by 2011.

Question: On the executive order there’s been some criticism on the Merida system in terms its ability to actually handle a big increase in the number of workers that would be — when they were talking about –. Are you at all concerned about getting in all these federal contractors potentially looking for people, that’s going to put a strain on E-Verify to compromise –.

Secretary Chertoff: Well, first of all, I don’t think we’re going to get hundreds of thousands or millions all at once. What’s going to happen is the system will phase in as you get a new contract the workers will be verified under that contract. We have seen — we’re very capable of dealing with an increase of a thousand a week and obviously Congress will need to continue to support the system with appropriations as they’ve done. But once you’ve got the — you know, this has been road tested and did fairly well and it’s gotten rave reviews. And, again, don’t take my word for it. The marketplace is moving to the system. That’s why we’re getting thousand people to sign up every week, so I’m confident that provided we get the appropriations we need, which I’m sure we will get, that this is not going to be a problem to scale up.

Question: But just to follow up, an official from Arizona testified at the Congressional hearing recently that it wasn’t getting rave reviews from some of the employers there. They were getting lots of false positives, they were having trouble explaining the system, and particularly smaller employers were having trouble dealing with the system so not everybody thinks it’s working okay.

Secretary Chertoff: Well, the first thing I can tell you is, again, let’s look at the numbers. I mean, if it was something people didn’t want to participate in because it’s a voluntary program at this point we wouldn’t be getting a thousand a week. I’ve given you the numbers on the error rates. Now I can’t tell you that every employer may have difficulty understanding the system or getting it to work. I have talked to a lot of employers and those employers have been very supportive and have appreciated and have really endorsed the system. Obviously, you know, you’ve got to learn how to use the system. You’ve got to have the right computer IT connections. But, again, I can’t argue with the numbers. The numbers are clear. People are continuing to join and they’re joining because they think it’s a good system.

Moderator: Two more questions.

Question: One of — for one, on the contractors, number one, the E-verify is voluntary? Is it voluntary for them or is it –

Secretary Chertoff:No.

Question: — going to be mandatory for them?

Secretary Chertoff: No, for federal contractors who are getting new contracts who are putting new employees on existing contracts, it’s going to be — it’s not going to be voluntary. They will have to do it as a condition of getting the contract.

Question: And if they are found, for example, you surprise them with workers who are not documented to work in the United States, what is the consequence for them? Do they lose the contract? Are they fined? What would be the consequence?

Secretary Chertoff: Again, I don’t want to start writing regulations from the podium. In general, the way E-verify works is if you’re using the system in good faith you’re not going to be held liable, you’re not going to be punished. If it turns out that somebody either games the system because they steal the real identity so that it passes muster or if, you know, an honest mistake is made. I mean, the idea here is not to create pitfalls for the unwearied. The idea is to give people a good faith opportunity to comply. If they do, they’re going to be held harmless even if it turns out that someone took advantage of them or somehow there was an honest mistake.

Moderator: last question.

Question: Can you refer to the fact that sometimes you have found yourselves in an embarrassing situation where your legal workers –

Secretary Chertoff: Not me, personally. I mean –

Question: — how prevalent has this been and –?

Secretary Chertoff: If you go back and look over press releases we’ve issued over the last two, three years you’ll see periodically there are enforcement operations that occur at military bases, government facilities. I think many years ago, this goes way back, maybe 10 years ago, when I was in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York that found illegal workers doing the painting in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. You know, this kind of stuff, these kinds of stories, are always, you know, in the papers at various points in time. And I think the public looks at this and they say, well, if the government can’t tell that the people working under government contracts are legal, then how can they tell us to make the same effort. So I think we’re trying to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

Question: What sector in this chain is being more effective for the lack of foreign workers and then what would be the consequences if this situation continues for this year?

Secretary Gutierrez: We are seeing it in agriculture and the actual food production for the raw materials that many companies use in their processing. So that would be the main part but that is not the only part. We are seeing it in service jobs throughout the economy. In this specific instance we talk about farms moving overseas because they can’t find enough workers. At a time when we are concerned about (a) our food supply; and (b) food safety. So I would say in terms of food chain, it goes across in some cases manufacturing; in some cases distribution. But the primary area would be in the production in the farming.

Moderator: last question.

Question: Mr. Secretary Chertoff, you asked for 100 million this year for E-verifying in the budget and I’m just wondering is that enough to cover this order that — will be needed? Finally, I also just want to ask, one thing you didn’t mention about your initiatives is citizenship applications. It doesn’t seem like we’re tapping on that as like what happened on passports. There was this all out effort to make sure Americans got their passports on time, but it seems like people are still having to wait to see if they get their citizenship or not.

Secretary Chertoff: A couple of things. First of all, I do think the money that we have is sufficient. Obviously Congress appropriates. We only propose a budget. On the issue of citizenship let me say a couple things. First of all we have worked to attack the problem of the backlog, the security check backlog. The FBI, of course, has the responsibility. We’ve worked with them to find a way to really move through that backlog and they’ve been making progress.

Secondly, I think we actually obviously got a big flood of citizenship applications that came last year and earlier this year. Our estimates of the amount of time it will take to get through that process have been decreasing as we’ve hired more people to process them. Obviously when you get — I think we may have been as much as doubling or close to it, of new applicants, that’s going to cause a strain on the system. But we are, again, our pace is accelerating and we have, in fact, made a very concerted effort to hire people. Obviously they have to be properly trained and to process people for citizenship as quickly as possible, but, and I underline the but, without compromising on the security. That’s the one thing we’re not going to compromise on.

Moderator: Thank you very much.

“*

Florida’s Republicans are gathering Saturday in Orlando to shore up support among Hispanics as the presidential election nears — part of a long-term strategy to earn the community’s votes for good.

Among the heavy-hitters attending the Republican Hispanic Conference: Luis Fortuño, the front-runner gubernatorial candidate from Puerto Rico; U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez; and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida.

“What you can expect to see is a lot of people excited, discussing how to get the word of Republican principles to the Hispanic community,” said Marcos Marchena, an Orlando attorney who is chairman of the party’s Hispanic Leadership Council.
“*

The 49th Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which will be held in Greater Miami April 4-8, will bring together high-level government officials, star CEOs and international celebrities, among them U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.

“I am pleased to participate in an event that is bringing world-class business and government leaders together. With such close commercial and social ties to Latin America, Miami is the ideal venue for this meeting,” Gutierrez said. The Annual Meeting of the IDB is the premier forum on Latin American finance, trade, and economic development.

Secretary Gutierrez will deliver a keynote address as part of a panel on competitiveness in the Americas, which will highlight the IDB’s role in building member nations’ capacity for maintaining and expanding economic activity in an environment of rapidly changing trade conditions.

Others participating in the competitiveness panel include Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete Lopez, president of Telefonica Latin America; Juan Cento, president of FedEx Express Latin America and Caribbean Division; Danilo Astori, Minister of Economy of Uruguay; Rui da Costa, Managing Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of Hewlett Packard; Manu Bhaskaran, a member of the Knowledge Panel at MasterCard; and Andres Velasco, Minister of Economy and Finance of Chile.

According to Jorge L. Arrizurieta, Chairman of the IDB Miami 2008 Host Committee and former Alternate U.S. Executive Director of the IDB, the panel on competitiveness is one of many groundbreaking events scheduled for the Annual Meeting. Others include a seminar on private philanthropy, an event on youth as agents of change, a panel on infrastructure, and a seminar on confronting natural disasters.

“This historic event will again allow Miami to unite the private and public sectors of Latin America and the Caribbean, further highlighting our role as a business center for the region,” Arrizurieta said.

A forum on the role of private philanthropy in development will feature a keynote address from Microsoft founder Bill Gates and remarks by IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. Preceding these appearances, Alberto Ibarguen, President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will moderate a panel of high-level executives including Emilio Azcarraga, Chairman of Televisa; Christina Gold, President and CEO of Western Union; and Bill Rhodes, Vice Chair Citi. Cesar Alierta, Chairman of Telefonica International, will make a presentation.

“The IDB wants to become the region’s preferred partner in private sector development, bringing additional benefits such as mobilization of private bank funds, improved corporate governance and compliance with environmental standards,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “We want to be closer to our customers and build strategic alliances with governments, privates sector companies and NGOs to bring the benefits of growth to the 70 percent of the population who earn less than $3000 a year.”

General Anthony Zinni, Vice President of DynCorp and former CENTCOM Commander, will speak on response and preparedness for natural disasters, a priority of the IDB and an important safeguard of human welfare in the region. Joining General Zinni on the panel will be Roberto Velluntini, Sector Manager, Infrastructure & Environment Dept. IDB; Omar Dario Cardona, a consultant for the IDB on natural disaster issues; Lorenza Martinez Trigueros, General Manager of insurance at the Mexican treasury (Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico); Anne Hassberger, Deputy Head for International Financial Institutions, Federal Dept. of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (Moderator).

“Latin America and the Caribbean are a very important partner,” Zinni said. “I am excited to accept the Host Committee’s invitation to share my views on how to prepare and mitigate natural disasters. This is of vital importance to the development and growth of the region and ultimately it impacts people the most.”

As part of the forum Celebrities and Youth as Agents of Change, the IDB and MTV Latin America will present the U.S. premier of their television program on youth as agents of change. The program celebrates youth whose leadership has made a difference in their community. As part of a roundtable discussion led by Generation Engage, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing political awareness among young people, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson will participate in an iChat dialogue with youth leaders. The President of MTV Latin America, Pierluigi Gazzolo, will speak about the impact of the program.

A panel on opportunities and challenges for private investment in infrastructure in the Americas will bring together a number of distinguished private and public sector leaders, including Robert Mosbacher, President of the Overseas Investment Corporation; Manny Diaz, Mayor of the City of Miami; Felipe Montoro Jens, Head of Project and Structure Finance of Odebrecht; Alberto Aleman Zubieta, CEO, Panama Canal Authority; Carlos Contreras, Executive Managing Director, Caja Madrid; Javier Falces, General Manager, Global Via Infraestructuras; and John Gage, Chief Researcher and Director of the Science Office, Sun Microsystems; Sergio Cabral, Governor, State of Rio de Janeiro; Daniel Scioli, Governor, Buenos Aires; Norman Anderson, CEO, CG/LA Infrastructure; Lic. Federico Patino, Director of the Mexican National Infrastructure Fund. “*

*From: http://www.hispanicprwire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

For the third time, President Bush has agreed to address the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) at its annual national Legislative Conference themed “Hispanic Business: Shaping Tomorrow’s Policy.” President Bush will be speaking at a special White House Briefing on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at the Ronald Reagan Building.

“As the leading advocate for our nation’s more than 2.5 million Hispanic-owned businesses,” said USHCC Board Chairman David C. Lizárraga, “we are greatly honored by President Bush’s decision to address the key leaders assembled from across the country for this important Conference. As in past years, we look forward to the President using this platform to deliver a major policy address dealing with issues of utmost importance to small- and medium-sized businesses that are vital contributors to our nation’s economy.”

Other key officials participating in the Conference include Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, United States Treasurer Anna Cabral, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and numerous other distinguished Members of Congress. Congresswomen Nydia Velazquez and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will be receiving the 2008 Legislative Awards.

“President Bush’s decision to attend the Legislative Conference follows the MSNBC Democratic Presidential Debate that the USHCC co-sponsored in January,” said Augustine Martinez, USHCC President and CEO. “USHCC’s ability to attract and host Presidential front-runners and U.S. Presidents alike is a testament to our growing influence as a population and economic engine.”

According to the U.S. Census, there are nearly 27 million businesses in the United States. It is projected that by 2010, Hispanic-owned firms will represent 1 out of 10 businesses in the U.S. and collectively generate over $465 billion a year in revenue.

The Legislative Conference brings together the nation’s top business owners, opinion leaders and key governmental and administration officials for a three-day gathering to address the most pressing legislative concerns of the nation’s largest and fastest growing business segment—Hispanic entrepreneurs. Expansion of hemispheric relations and trade, health care, energy efficiency, and small business programs are among the many issues receiving top billing at this year’s Legislative Conference.

For a complete list of key events at the 2008 USHCC Legislative Conference, or for more news on the lineup of speakers and dignitaries, special events and registration information, visit www.ushcc.com, the interactive source for all Legislative Conference information.”*

*From: http://www.hispanicprwire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The dream had been alive for years, but the idea of erecting a multimillion-dollar building for St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church was out of reach.

So Carlos Gutierrez considers the Diocese of Grand Rapids’ recent purchase of a 40-year-old Christian Reformed building and parsonage for $385,000 a miracle.

“When you are a people of faith, it doesn’t cost you nothing to dream,” said Gutierrez, a church deacon. “It is a blessing. It is unbelievable.”"*

“The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) hosted its first annual Future Leaders Conference where more than 180 DC summer interns attended. The interns listened to speeches from CHLI Chairman Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, U.S. Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Hector Morales and IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez provided keynote remarks to the students and spoke about the importance of successful leadership skills.

Following the speeches, the interns asked questions to a panel of young corporate leaders from companies and organizations such as Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. They then participated in workshops on “Credit Smart: Freddie Mac’s financial literacy program” and “Charting a Career in Think Tanks and How to Write an Effective Op-Ed.”

The all-day conference provided students with an opportunity to network with other young leaders, meet government and corporate executives and learn about exciting careers in Washington, DC. “Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders and CHLI is proud to host such an important conference that brings together student interns from all over the country to learn about the workings of the federal government and corporations,” said Congressman Lincoln Diaz- Balart, CHLI Chairman. “This conference is another example of CHLI’s commitment to helping students achieve their career goals.”

“I was honored to be a part of the conference today. Through events like this, CHLI is helping develop the future leaders of our communities. These programs demonstrate the importance of giving back to our communities both economically and socially,” said Hector Morales, U.S. Executive Director of the IDB. “CHLI has undertaken the same mission as the IDB — that is to provide the people of this hemisphere, both North and South of the border, the tools they need to improve their lives and their communities.”

The conference is one of the many CHLI’s programs and initiatives designed to advance diversity of thought in our nation within the Hispanic community. For more information on CHLI, please visit the website at chli.org/.

The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute is a 501(C)(3) not-for- profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to creating a broader awareness of the diversity of thought, heritage, interests and views of Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent. Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute

CONTACT: Mercy Viana Schlapp of Congressional Hispanic Leadership
Institute, +1-703-470-4794

Web site: chli.org/ “

“The White House has dispatched Commerce Secy. Carlos Gutierrez to lobby businesses and Latino groups to get the immigration bill back on track. He tried out his sales pitch on Kai Ryssdal today.”

” Tom Steed Building

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

Glynco, Georgia

11:31 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Please be seated — unless, of course, you don’t have a chair. Thanks for having me. I’m honored to be here at the headquarters of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

I don’t know whether you realize this, or not, but the government originally planned to open this center inside the Capital Beltway. No one looks very sad that they didn’t open it inside the Capital Beltway. (Laughter.) It’s a spectacular place to have this center. It is a glorious place to live. I’m honored to be in your presence. Thanks for letting me come by and share some thoughts with you.

I want to thank Director Patrick for her strong leadership and her kind introduction. I appreciate very much the tour I have just taken. A lot of our fellow citizens probably don’t know what goes on here, but this is a center full of smart, capable instructors who are helping to train men and women who’ve volunteered to serve our country on the front lines of protecting the homeland. I am grateful to be in your midst. I thank those of you who work here; I thank those of you who are being trained here; and I thank your families, as well.

We have a mission, a vital mission, and that’s to protect our country. And you all are on the front lines of that protection. And it gives me great confidence when I meet you to tell the American people there’s a lot of decent souls doing everything they can to provide security for the American people. So, thanks.

I appreciate the folks at FLETC that I met that are working the border and helping train people to secure this border of ours. And I’ve come today not only to thank you, but to talk about immigration. Immigration is a vital issue facing this country. And the fundamental question is, will elected officials have the courage necessary to put a comprehensive immigration plan in place that makes it more likely we can enforce our border and, at the same time, uphold the great traditions of — immigrant traditions of the United States of America. And that’s what I want to discuss with you.

Before I do, I do want to introduce some people. I want to introduce Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez — I appreciate you coming, Mr. Secretary. (Applause.) Carlos wasn’t born here, see. He was born in another country — Cuba. And now he sits in the Cabinet of the President of the United States. There’s something great about a country that welcomes people, people who uphold our laws and realize the great blessings of America.

With us, as well, is Senator Mel Martinez. He wasn’t born in America. He’s a Senator from Florida. He was born in Cuba. I don’t know if you know his story, but his mother and father put him on an airplane to come to the United States of America, to be raised by total strangers because they didn’t want their son to grow up under a tyrant named Fidel Castro. He used to sit in the Cabinet of the President of the United States; now he sits in the United States Senate. What a wonderful country it is, where people can come to live in a country based upon liberty, and realize the great blessings of our country.

And I want to mention those two men because, to me, they represent what the immigration debate is all about: Will we be a welcoming place, a place of law, that renews our spirit by giving people a chance to succeed?

So, Senator, thank you for coming, as well. (Applause.)

I saved the other two traveling with me because they were born here — starting with the United States Senator from Georgia, a south Georgian named Saxby Chambliss, one of the finest senators in the United States Senate. (Applause.)

Finally, I asked Secretary Mike Chertoff to leave the bench to become the Director of the Department of Homeland Security. It’s a big job. It’s a job that requires organizing various agencies under one task, and that’s to provide protection to the American people. Secretary Chertoff is doing a fine job. I’m glad he’s joined us today. Thanks for coming, Mr. Secretary. (Applause.)

I thank all the state and local officials here who have joined us. I appreciate you taking time to come over and say hello. I thank the citizens from this part of the world who have joined us, as well. Thanks for supporting this good institution. I know you know this, but FLETC provides an important role for this country of ours, and I thank you for supporting it.

Before I talk about immigration, I do want to offer condolences for Agent Robert Smith. He died last week from injuries in a helicopter crash. He was a Customs and Border Protection agent. He reminds us on a regular basis that those who are on the front line of protecting the country take danger as a part of their job. And, therefore, we offer our deepest condolences for Robert Smith’s family and his friends, and we ask for God’s blessings on them.

Our nation depends on our federal agents to enforce our immigration laws at the border and across the country. You’ve got a big job to do; we’re counting on you to enforce those laws. And when you graduate from FLETC, you’re going to be an important part of that role. That’s why you’re here; it’s to upgrade your skills so you have the capacity to do the job the country expects you to do. You’re going to safeguard our ports of entry, you’ll investigate workplace immigration violations, and you’ll arrest those breaking the law. We are a nation of laws, and we expect people to keep the laws. And if they break the laws, there will be a consequence.

This administration of mine is committed to ensuring that our federal agents have the resources you need to carry out your responsibilities. For some of the older hands here — I’m not going to pick you out of the crowd — I’m sure you will tell some of the younger folks that things have changed significantly over the past years. One way to measure how things have changed is look at the budget. We’ve doubled the funding for border security since I took office. We now spend $10 billion a year to protect this border. One commitment to the American people that we’re serious about helping you do your job is to spend more money on the job. It’s a way to measure whether or not our — we’re meeting our words with commitment. And we are.

We’ve used additional money. People say, what are you spending it on? Well, we’re expanding the number of Border Patrol agents from about 9,000 to 13,000, and by the end of — we have expanded it — and by the end of 2008, we’re going to have 18,000 agents. We will have more than doubled the Border Patrol in a relatively quick period of time. We believe the more manpower is on the border, the more likely it is we’ll be able to enforce the border, like the American people expect us to do.

We’re investing in new technology, we’re strengthening infrastructure. In other words, we’ve taken our duty seriously to protect the border of the United States of America. As a matter of fact, we take it so seriously that I asked the governors to put some National Guard troops down there until our Border Patrol agents got trained.

And we’re beginning to see some results. In this immigration debate, oftentimes people say, well, they’re not doing anything to protect the border. Well, that’s not — those folks just simply don’t know what’s going on. You do. Men and women who wear the uniform understand what’s going on. There’s a focused, concerted effort to enforce our border.

As a matter of fact, you can tell when the border is better defended because the number of arrests go down. In other words, when people know there’s a consequence to trying to sneak across, there’s less likely to be people sneaking across. Arrests have gone down by 27 percent over the past year on the southern border. That’s a sign of progress. It should say to the American people that we’re doing what the people expect us to do.

The new infrastructure is making a difference. The Predators make a difference. The number of Border Patrol agents make a difference. I don’t know if any of you spent time out in Artesia, New Mexico, if you’re working for the Border Patrol, but I was impressed with boot camp. And they’re training these Border Patrol agents to do the hard work that the American people expect them to do.

One of the problems we had prior to the administration addressing the problem was we had what was called — what happened was called catch and release. You had your Border Patrol working hard, finding somebody trying to sneak into our country illegally, they’d catch him, and then they say, well, you know, look, you need to come back for your hearing; we’re going to let you out, but come back for your hearing. Well, the problem was, the people didn’t want to come back for their hearing. They generally wanted to go work. And so they would just disappear.

And it discouraged our Border Patrol agents. I talked to too many agents and heard too many stories about people saying, wait a minute, I’m tired of doing my job on the front line of protecting the border only to have the people that I have stopped coming in meld into our society.

And so we worked with Congress and we’ve got a lot of detention facilities now along the border. We didn’t have space before. Now we do have space. And as a result, catch and release has virtually been eliminated. It sends a strong — getting rid of the catch and release program sends a strong signal to people: If you come to the country, we will find you, and we’re going to send you home, so don’t try to come in the first place.

In other words, we’re working hard to enforce the border. And we’re stepping up enforcement inside the country. I see a lot of ICE hats. These are the folks that are charged with making sure that people who knowingly hire somebody who’s here illegally pay a price. In other words, part of making sure our country is a rule of law, we’ve got to have people enforce the law. It’s against the law to hire somebody who is here illegally. That’s the law. And we’re training people here to make sure that they know how to enforce that law. And the message to employers, if you’re hiring somebody here that you know is illegal, we’re going to — there’s a consequence to be paid. That’s what a nation that bases it’s system on rule of law does. That’s what we’ll continue to do.

And ICE is active. Your folks are working hard. ICE investigations have led to more than 3,000 arrests for immigration violations since the beginning of this fiscal year; nearly 600 arrests for criminal violations, including fraud and identity theft; and nearly $30 million in penalties against businesses that have violated the law.

We’re working hard to enforce the border. The immigration debate, you hear people say, well, they’re not doing anything to enforce the border. They’re wrong, and you know they’re wrong. And I’m here to thank you for doing — for working as hard as you can.

And now we’ve got to build on the progress. It’s important for our American citizens to understand that the immigration system is in desperate need for comprehensive reform. And Congress has a historic window to act. The system isn’t working. Think about a system that encourages smugglers to stuff people in 18-wheelers, people that want to work, people that want to provide for their families. Think about a system in which there’s tremendous document forgery.

You’ve got a person out here in south Georgia who needs somebody to help them on their farm. The person shows up with documents. They don’t know whether they’re real, or not. There’s a lot of forgery going on. We’ve got people — in my judgment, this isn’t what America should be about. And yet the system is broken to the point where people are being used as human cargo, being exploited, simply because most want to come and provide for their families; most are willing to do jobs Americans aren’t doing. The system needs to be fixed.

I appreciate the Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate, starting with Saxby Chambliss and Mel Martinez, who put politics aside and put courage first to work on a comprehensive bill. It takes a lot of courage in the face of some of the criticism in the political world to do what’s right, not what’s comfortable. And what’s right is to fix this system now before it’s too late. And I thank you two for your courage. (Applause.)

And Carlos and Mike Chertoff spent a lot of time sitting with the senators from both political parties. I don’t know if you’re tired of it, but a lot of Americans are simply tired of this endless political bickering, that we can’t work together because it might make somebody else look good. I tried to change the system. It’s not working. (Applause.) So I sent the two Secretaries in there with the senators from both parties, and said, okay, why don’t we sit down and see if we can’t figure something — something that’s good for the country. Each side is going to have to give a little bit. Not everybody is going to get everything they want, but what matters more is fixing the problem now.

And we’re making some progress. Most Americans — many Americans say their primary concern is border security and ensuring that those who violate our laws face consequences. That’s what you’re hearing out there when you’re listening to the debate.

Others say their chief concern is keeping this economy strong. There’s a — a lot of employers need a legal way to fill jobs that Americans simply aren’t doing. There’s a lot of jobs here in Georgia that require people from — that are willing to do the work that Americans aren’t doing. It’s just the way it is.

You talk to your farmer friends, or your nursery friends — I remember the peach grower, Saxby, that you sent over to the White House. He’s there saying to me, you’ve got to understand something, Mr. President, my business won’t go forward unless I have some of these good people that are willing to work long hours in my peach orchard helping me harvest the crop. So a lot of people in this debate are concerned about getting a bill in place that will help keep the economy growing.

Others say their main concern is to bring hardworking, decent people out of the shadows of our society. All of these concerns are part of the same issue, and it’s important for American citizens to understand that the legislation now before Congress addresses them all as one. Our view is, is that you can’t solve the problem unless you address all aspects of the problem. We’ve tried to address immigration reform in the past by talking about only one aspect of immigration reform. To make it work, to address the concerns of the American people, there must be a comprehensive approach.

A lot of Americans are skeptical about immigration reform primarily because they don’t think the government can fix the problems. And my answer to the skeptics is, give us a chance to fix the problems in a comprehensive way that enforces our border and treats people with decency and respect. Give us a chance to fix this problem. Don’t try to kill this bill before it gets moving. Give us a chance to make it easier for the folks who wear the uniform along our borders to do their job.

I believe the bill before Congress learns from the mistakes of the past. It is the best hope for lasting reform. If people are interested in fixing a system that’s broken, this bill is the best hope to do so. It answers the longstanding concerns of the American people. It deserves widespread support. And I strongly back it.

If you’re serious about securing our borders, it makes sense to support legislation that makes enforcement our highest priority. And that’s what this bill does. For decades, we have not been in complete control of the borders, and many people have lost faith in our capacity to get control of the borders. I ask them to look at what’s taken place over the past years, recent years. I wish they could talk to some of your Border Patrol friends, and talk about the advances that have been made and the good work they’re doing down there.

The first step to comprehensive reform must be to enforce immigration laws at the borders and at work sites across America. And this is what this bill does. For the skeptics who say that we’re not concerned about border security or workplace enforcement, they need to read the bill. The bill prioritizes enforcing our laws at the border, and saying to employers, we’ll hold you to account for employing somebody who’s here illegally — knowingly employing somebody who’s here illegally.

This bill sets enforcement benchmarks that have got to be met before other aspects of the comprehensive bill are triggered. In other words, there has to be certain accomplishments in place before other aspects of the bill come into being. And here are some of those markers: Increasing the number of Border Patrol agents. We said we’re going to double them; they’ve got to get doubled, until other aspects of the bill come into being. We’re going to build miles of state-of-the-art fencing. We’re going to improve surveillance with advanced technologies. We will do a better job of holding employers accountable for the workers they hire.

Most employers want to comply with the law. The peach grower wanted to comply with the law. Believe me, he’s a law-abiding, decent man. His attitude is, why don’t you help me verify the legal status of a potential employee, as opposed to holding me to account — which we will do, of course, if he knowingly hires somebody — give me a hand with the verification system.

And that’s why we’re going to promote tamper-resistant identification cards. In other words, if you’re here working, you’re going to have a card that you can’t tamper with, that some document forger can’t foist off as a document for somebody to come and pick peaches here in Georgia.

In other words, we’ve got a serious attempt in this bill, and a real attempt, to do what a lot of Americans want us to do, and that’s enforce the border. If you’re serious about keeping our economy strong, it’s makes sense to support legislation that gives foreign workers a legal path to jobs in America. There are people doing jobs here Americans aren’t doing.

The peach man said to me, he said, I can’t find somebody from my home town who wants to pick peaches, but I can find somebody who wants to put food on their table for a family from Mexico, for example. It seems to me it makes sense to give those people a chance to come and work here on a temporary basis. This bill says, temporary, it means temporary. You’ll be here for a number of years, and you’ll go back home. That’s what a temporary worker plan does. In the meantime, it helps meet the needs of our economy.

This bill — aspect of the bill will allow federal agents to focus on apprehending violent criminals and terrorists who are a threat to our country rather than people who want to work here. In other words, if you can come to our country on a temporary basis legally, you’re not going to sneak across the border. Who wants to pay a coyote hundreds of dollars, or thousands of dollars, when you can walk across, and say, I’m going to have a temporary job here in this country, and here’s my tamper — my tamper-resistant card?

If you’re interested in securing the border, wouldn’t you rather have Border Patrol agents chasing down terrorists and gun runners and dope runners as opposed to people who are coming to do jobs Americans aren’t doing? A temporary worker plan, that is truly temporary, is going to make it easier for us to enforce the border. Border enforcement and having a rational worker plan go hand-in-hand. And that’s what the American people have got to understand.

A temporary worker program will not begin until our border security measures are in place, and until we have a reliable system for verifying employment eligibility. That’s the way the bill works. Oh, I’m sure you’ve heard some of the talk out there about people defining the bill. It’s clear they hadn’t read the bill. They’re speculating about what the bill says, and they’re trying to rile up people’s emotions. This is a good piece of legislation. It addresses the border security needs, and it addresses the employment needs of our country.

If you’re serious about bringing hardworking illegal immigrants out of the shadows of our society, it makes sense to support legislation that will resolve their status without animosity, and without amnesty.

Others — I don’t — they estimate 11 million to 12 million people have been here for, some, quite a while. They’re in an underground in America. It’s not right, as far as I’m concerned. That’s not what this country stands for. I know there are some people out there hollering and saying, kick them out. That is simply unrealistic. It won’t work. There are some people saying, give them automatic citizenship. I oppose that. It won’t work. I don’t think it makes any sense to do that.

Amnesty is forgiveness for being here without any penalties — that’s what amnesty is. I oppose it. The authors — many of the authors of this bill oppose it. This bill is not an amnesty bill. If you want to scare the American people, what you say is, the bill is an amnesty bill. It’s not an amnesty bill. That’s empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our fellow citizens. People in Congress need the courage to go back to their districts and explain exactly what this bill is all about, in order to put comprehensive immigration reform in place.

Let me explain how it works. Under the bill, those who want to stay in our country who have been here can apply for a Z visa. At some point in time, those who are coming to work will get temporary work visas. Those who have been here already can apply for a Z visa. To receive the visa, illegal workers must admit they violated the law and pay a meaningful penalty, pass a strict background check, hold a job, maintain a clean record, and eventually earn English — learn English. That’s how it works.

It says, if you want to be here, here’s what you have to do. There is a consequence for having broken the law. As a result of a recent Senate amendment, they have to pay back taxes if they haven’t paid taxes, too. You’re working hard, you pay taxes. People who have been here in this country ought to pay taxes. That’s what it says.

The hurdles to citizenship are going to be even higher. In other words, if somebody says, fine, I’ll take my Z visa, I’m out of the shadows now, I’ve got an opportunity to not hide in America. I’ll continue doing the work I’m doing, I’m going to keep my record clean. I’ll pay the penalties necessary so I can stay here — that’s what it says — but if you want to be a citizen, there’s more hurdles. It says, the Z visa worker would first have to pay an additional fine. In other words, you have broken the law and there’s a consequence for breaking the law. That’s what the bill says.

Secondly, you’ve got to return home to file an application for your green card. If you want to be a citizen, you pay a fine, you touch base home to apply for a green card, and then you take your place behind those who have played by the rules and have been waiting in line, patiently, to become a citizen.

This is a good bill. It recognizes that we’ve got to treat people with respect, and it also recognizes we’re a nation of law. And as we go forward, the legislation creates a new system for admitting new immigrants to our country, people who want to come here legally. The system is going to reward applicants based upon skills and education, in addition to family ties, so we can ensure America continues to have the world’s most talented work force.

This legislation is also going to help newcomers assimilate into our society. One of the great aspects of American society is people have been able to assimilate.

You know, I was at the Coast Guard Academy the other day, giving a speech there, and the president of the class, a Latino, talked with great pride in his voice about the fact that this grandfather was a migrant to the United States of America, and here he is addressing the Coast Guard Academy. I think it speaks volumes about the great promise of America. One of the reasons why is because his family assimilated into our society and into our culture. The key to unlocking the full promise of America is the ability to speak English. That’s the language of our country. If you can speak English in this country and work hard and have dreams, you can make it. That’s the great story of America. I believe it’s true today like it was true yesterday, as well.

We expect opportunities to help — we will expand opportunities to help new immigrants learn the language, learn about the ideals that make us a wonderful country. If you’re serious about reform, it makes sense to support comprehensive legislation that addresses all aspects of the problem. You cannot solve the problem unless we address all aspects of the problem at the same time.

This reform is complex. There’s a lot of emotions around this issue. Convictions run deep. Those determined to find fault with this bill will always be able to look at a narrow slice of it and find something they don’t like. If you want to kill the bill, if you don’t want to do what’s right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it, you can use it to frighten people. Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all, so the people who wear the uniform in this crowd can do the job we expect them to do.

Now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform. Now is the time for members of both political parties to stand up and show courage, and take a leadership role and do what’s right for America.

Thanks for letting me come by, and God bless. (Applause.)

END 12:01 P.M. EDT “

“The debate over a sweeping bipartisan immigration bill got off to a fiery but confused start yesterday, since few lawmakers, and even fewer people around the country, had seen the full text of the proposal.

The compromise bill that emerged last Thursday from weeks of closed-door discussions among Senate leaders and two cabinet secretaries ”” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez ”” was more than 300 pages long.”

“Two Cabinet secretaries on Sunday promoted the White Houses immigration deal with Congress and played down criticism it would reward people who illegally have entered the country.

It’s not amnesty. They’re going to have to pay a penalty, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said. They’re going to have to wait in line. They’re going to have to undergo a criminal background check.”

“Airam da Silva and Armando Cortinez, both with the National Marrow Donor Program NMDP recently attended the National Hispanic Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. The two day conference provided a forum for approximately 350 Hispanic participants from across the country to discuss a range of policy issues with members of the United States Congress and the Administration. The conference participants were nominated to attend by their member of Congress.

“Bringing together Hispanic leaders and our federal officials for an open dialogue and exchange of ideas is vital to our nation’s continuing efforts to address the most pressing issues affecting our families, communities, and nation,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison TX, Summit organizer.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell KY addressed the delegates and welcomed them to the summit. Sen. Mel Martinez FL joined Sen. Hutchison to update the participants on legislative priorities in the 110th Congress; then he le a session on the ideas of comprehensive immigration reform. Sen. Lamar Alexander TN spoke on education opportunities, Sen. Michael Enzi WY outlined plans for expanded access to affordable, quality health care, and Sen. John Cornyn TX discussed legislative proposals for continued economic growth. Participants engaged in informative question and answer sessions following each panel.

Several members of President Bush’s administration addressed the Summit’s attendees, including keynote speaker U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. Dr. Emilio Gonzalez, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, spoke on immigration devices reform; Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, Director of The National Institutes of Health, addressed efforts to reduce minority health disparities; and Sara Martinez Tucker, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, updated attendees on programs to help minority students succeed.

“Hispanic achievements have greatly influenced America’s policy-making, its economic, medical, and artistic fields. Collaborating on and bringing forward more ideas will continue to help shape our legislative agenda and a better quality of life for all Americans,” said Sen. Martinez.

The National Marrow Donor Program NMDP is a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the Hispanic/Latino community. The NMDP works hard to help more Hispanic and Latino patients receive the transplants that can save their lives. To learn more about getting on the national registry or volunteer opportunities, call 800 MARROW–2 800-627-7692 or visit www.marrow.org.

Communications
301-332-0683 “

“Last week, the new owners named Joe Uva, OMDs president-CEO, to take over April 1 as CEO, ending wild speculation about a field of candidates rumored to include Mexicos ex-President Vicente Fox and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. As both a buyer and a seller in his career at OMD and Turner Broadcasting Sales, Mr. Uva brings expertise and relationships that Univision needs to capture more of the ad dollars marketers spend with the English-language TV networks. “

“This week, Congress will return to the immigration debate when it hears testimony from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

I love the pairing. It illustrates Americas schizophrenia on the issue and the built-in tension between the need to control our borders and the profits we reap from keeping it open, between the wall and wallet.”

“U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said Thursday that Washington is willing to help Cuba make the transition to a more open, democratic society.

Speaking to reporters during a one-day visit to Mexico, Gutierrez said the U.S. supports a ”peaceful transition to democracy.” “