Ask the Expert: Angela Maria Kelley on immigration reform in the new Congress

What is the state of immigration reform in the new Congress?

The state of immigration reform in the new Congress is very different in the House than it is from the Senate and from what the president said. In the House of Representatives it seems clear that they want to pursue an enforcement only, enforcement all the time approach. Early indications are that House Republicans only want to have a mass deportation conversation. In the Senate, the Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) indicated in one of the early bills he introduced that he wants to take up the issue of immigration reform, and he wants to solve the problem by dealing with people who are here without status, deal with having a smarter, more secure border, and to attack the problem holistically, which we think is smart. The president, in his State of the Union, similarly indicated that we need the talent of people who come to this country, who study and want to make contributions. And we should hang on to that talent. We need to deal with people who are here without status, make sure that employers who aren’t following the rules follow the rules, and that we have a secure border. Again, a holistic approach that we think makes sense.

Which areas can we realistically make progress on?

Well, I think the House of Representatives is going to want to take up an employment verification system, which on its face sounds reasonable—making sure that employers are hiring people who are here legally to work. The shortcoming, though, is that it won’t work. Until we deal with the people who are here without status all that will happen with an employment verification system is that people will get knocked off the rolls and they’ll be paid under the table. They will continue working, but we won’t know who they are, and they won’t be paying taxes, and employers won’t be paying taxes. The only way that we can get a handle on our broken immigration system is if we couple smart enforcement—go after employers who aren’t following the rules—have a strong border, and deal with the people who are here without status. They’re not going to go away. We have 8 million workers without papers—11 million people here total without status. Rather than try a mass deportation strategy it makes much more sense to get them in the system and make sure they’re following the rules.

How should the administration proceed on reform?

The administration should—as the president said in his State of the Union—lean in to the legislative debate and lead us toward a lasting solution on what we should do with the people here without status and securing our borders. The administration, in enforcing our immigration laws, should make sure that it’s prioritizing its resources smartly, deporting those with criminal records, those who mean to do us harm, those who are destabilizing communities. The administration should also be smart, though, about who it detains. We need to make sure we’re not splitting up families unnecessarily and make sure we’re giving people their day in court and proper due process.