Orrin Hatch: “today we begin our immigration debate in earnest. Senator McConnell has kept his promise to bring an immigration vehicle…”

“today we begin our immigration debate in earnest. Senator McConnell has kept his promise to bring an immigration vehicle to the floor. This week, we will be taking a series of votes on DACA, border security, and other related subjects. I wish to take a few minutes now to outline where I am on these issues and where I see this week's debate heading. I have made very clear that I believe we need a legislative fix for DACA. We cannot continue to keep people in our country and grant them work authorization by Executive fiat. DACA recipients deserve certainty. So, too, do other immigrants who enter our country legally and have done their best to follow the rules. We also need better border security and interior enforcement. Thirty years ago, we granted amnesty to nearly 3 million illegal immigrants, and the result over the next two decades was a surge in illegal immigration. We need to prevent that from happening again. I think it is fair and equitable to give DACA recipients a pathway to lawful status because they came to our country through no fault of their own, but I also believe we need to pair DACA legislation with strict border security and interior enforcement measures so we don't find ourselves right back here again in another 20 or 30 years or even sooner. I also think legal immigration needs to be a part of the discussion; in particular, high-skilled immigration.…”