On the recordJuly 7, 2016
This is one of those moments where you realize that an amendment is put forth not to deal with an issue but, rather, to put it on the floor so you can discuss it. First of all, this is not the place to discuss immigration policy. And I can tell you that we would both agree that our immigration policy, our program, is broken and it has to be fixed. Here is the problem, one that I have been arguing for years, and a lot of other people have been doing the same thing for years and lately, and that is that law enforcement officials, for the most part, will tell you that, regardless of whether we deal with the immigration issue or not, they need to speak to the local people and get information so they can do their job. If they are seen as agents of the immigration department, if you will, the people won't speak to them who are here undocumented. They won't speak to them. So they are faced with a very difficult situation. They are saying: You guys and ladies are supposed to handle immigration reform. Do it. Take care of it. Do it in the way you want. Take care of that. But in the meantime, let me do my job. So a guy steals a car, and three people in the neighborhood know who stole it. They go up. If they think that that police officer is also enforcing immigration policy, they are not going to talk to him. That is just a fact of life. So you may think you are doing a great thing, but you are actually hurting law enforcement in the job that it has to do.…
