On the recordJanuary 8, 2018
Madam President, I thank Chairman Grassley for his leadership on this issue and for offering the SECURE Act, which I and some of the other Senators have supported. I wish to continue this debate where Senator Tillis left off. We have heard a lot today about the so-called DACA Program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and the negotiations in which we are currently engaged. Hopefully, those negotiations will reach a solution that will satisfy all the parties and give certain legal protections to the DACA population. We have heard a lot today about border security and the wall. I want to focus on one other element of a needed, negotiated solution, and that is chain migration--putting an end, once and for all, to chain migration. When you give legal status to an illegal immigrant, that is a permanent change in law; it will never be reversed. Therefore, you can't simply accept some window dressing at the border--1 year of funding for demonstration or pilot projects. You have to have a permanent change in return for a permanent change, and an end to chain migration will be one of the most important permanent changes to U.S. immigration law in 52 years. What is chain migration?…





