Idaho GOP Rep. Raul Labrador says both automatic citizenship and automatic deportation “will pull the rug out from under countless families and the American economy.”
Labrador made his statement Tuesday afternoon after the House Judiciary Committee on which he sits held its first full hearing on immigration reform. Tuesday also found Labrador profiled in the Washington Post as a key middleman on immigration reform.
“There are 12 million people in our country illegally, and polarizing measures like automatic citizenship for all or automatic deportation for all will pull the rug out from under countless families and the American economy,” said Labrador in a news release late Tuesday.
The full release follows:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Committee on the Judiciary today held its first full committee hearing, “America’s Immigration System: Opportunities for Legal Immigration and Enforcement of Laws against Illegal Immigration.” Idaho First District Congressman Raúl Labrador is a proponent of a conservative approach to immigration reform that secures the nation’s borders and repairs a broken and outdated immigration system.
“Today’s committee hearing set the stage for the questions we must consider when we talk about reforming the broken immigration system in our country,” Labrador said. “We are evaluating our current system and seeking ways to improve enforcement and create a fair, workable system that maintains the integrity of our laws.
“Securing our borders is of the utmost importance to Americans and must be a starting point for true reform. Further reforms, like a guest worker program and an employment verification system, are also necessary if we want to create a modern immigration framework. The testimony we heard today illustrated the broken aspects of our national immigration policy as well as the need for reform.”
Labrador continued: “As I have said all along, we need to create an immigration system that is fair to those who have come here legally, fair to those who are caught in our broken system and fair to the Americans who expect the rule of law in this country to be followed. There are 12 million people in our country illegally, and polarizing measures like automatic citizenship for all or automatic deportation for all will pull the rug out from under countless families and the American economy. We absolutely must consider all options and today’s committee hearing was a helpful addition to this ongoing debate. I think it proved that if there were any easy answers to the immigration question, we would have found them by now.”
