Sec. 2. Findings
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/bill/113/hr/3163/ih/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress makes the following findings: Federal immigration laws must uphold America’s long history of being a Nation of immigrants from every continent in the world, and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to strong and united families, civil rights, economic opportunity and diversity. The Government of the United States should reduce the deficit by ensuring that all individuals and employers pay their fair share of taxes and contribute equally to the prosperity of our great Nation.
The Government of the United States has an obligation to ensure the labor rights of all workers in our country, and end the driving down of wages and workplace standards that exists today due to our broken immigration system. Unscrupulous employers should not be able to profit off of the backs of a workforce with no voice in the workplace or civic society. The Government of the United States also has an obligation to ensure the growth and vitality of honest American businesses that are playing by the rules and fueling our economic recovery.
The labor and immigration policies of the United States Government should be modernized to reflect the current needs of American workers and the American economy. The Government of the United States cannot effectively carry out its national security policies unless it requires undocumented immigrants to come forward and participate fully in our communities and legally in the economy of the United States, so that enforcement efforts are concentrated on the truly bad actors. Elimination of America’s immigrant workforce is not an effective or honest solution to Americas economic crisis.
We need a solution that levels the playing field and promotes equal rights for all. Dividing American families in not a moral or just solution to the broken immigration system. We need policies that treat all families equally and keep them together, to support each other and build strong communities. Flawed immigration laws and persistent unequal administration of justice at the local level, based on race or national origin, has undermined effective community policing by discouraging the reporting of crime and cooperation with prosecutors in immigrant communities, due to well-founded fears of immigration enforcement action against them.
This puts entire communities at risk and undermines public safety for all. The Government of the United States should ensure that racial profiling and unequal administration of the law based on race or national origin is not permitted by any agency of Federal, State or local government bodies. Our Government should ensure that our Nation’s borders are secure by investing in effective strategies, eliminating the millions of dollars currently being allocated to ineffective ones, and by requiring consultation with State and local communities on both the northern and southern borders before implementing new border enforcement strategies.
Foreign governments, particularly those that share an international border with the United States, must play a critical role in securing international borders and deterring illegal entry of foreign nationals into the United States. The Government of the United States has an obligation to reaffirm its commitment to effective immigrant integration by supporting the teaching and promoting the learning of English. Comprehensive immigration reform and strong enforcement of immigration laws will encourage legal immigration, deter illegal immigration, and promote the economic and national security interests of the United States.