Byron Dorgan: “What is the message we send to people around the world who applied for status to come to this country through the…”

“What is the message we send to people around the world who applied for status to come to this country through the immigration quota process? There is a process that is our legal immigration process. What is the message to those folks who, perhaps 3 years ago, 5 years ago, 9 years ago, filed a petition only to discover that if they had walked across the border on December 31 of last year, they would, with this legislation, be deemed to have been here legally? That is the message. It is sort of a Byzantine message as far as I am concerned. I attempted to eliminate the so-called guest worker program or the temporary worker program by which millions of additional people who do not now live in this country would be invited in to take American jobs. I attempted to eliminate that. I failed to do that. I will next offer an amendment at some point, perhaps tomorrow morning, that will sunset the temporary worker program. If we cannot eliminate it, at least let's put an end to it--put a sunset on it.”