Angela Kelley on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

What is comprehensive immigration reform?

Comprehensive immigration reform is a legislative effort to overhaul our broken immigration laws so that they make sense for our country; so we have secure borders, safer communities, and we have a process for people who are currently living in the shadows to come forward, pay taxes, and get on the right side of the law.

Why do we need immigration reform?

Our immigration system is badly broken. We have 12 million people who are living in the shadows; we don't have a system where we know who's coming into this country, or where they're working, or whether we need them here, quite frankly. We've got families who are separated for years and years because of outdated quota systems. So, the idea behind immigration reform is that we get control of our borders. We know who's coming into the country and why, and that we're certain that they're not displacing American workers. That we bring people out of the shadows, require them to pay their taxes, and get on the right side of the law. A nd that we're certain that we have families who are reuniting quickly and contributing to our communities.

How quickly can Congress act on immigration reform?

Congress needs to act very quickly. The system is very broken, and frankly in these economic times, we need to know that the 7 million workers that are here without documentation--that they're paying taxes, that their employers are paying payroll taxes. So, in these economic times, we actually think that immigration reform makes sense as part of economic recovery. We know that Congress has a full platter, but we think that Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time. Immigration reform is consistent with America's need for an economic recovery package; it's consistent with the need to know who's in our country, to have secure borders; and its consistent with who we are as a nation, as a nation of immigrants.