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Public Statements

Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Floor Speech

Location: Washington, DC

Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, opponents of comprehensive immigration reform will do anything to stop progress in today's world. Now they're using the terrorist attacks in Boston to somehow draw some connection between those events and the problems that really plague our immigration system. There is no connection, but problems still remain.

We still have to secure our borders. We still have to make sure that employers are only employing legal Americans. We still have 11 million undocumented people in this country. We don't know why they're here or who they are. We still need seasonal workers for many economic activities. We still need highly skilled workers--engineers and technicians--some of whom have been trained here but cannot work here. We still have people overstaying their visas, and we still have the problem that we need to increase the flow of immigration to stimulate our economy.

Delaying immigration reform will only weaken our economy and make us less safe. It is much better that we know everyone who is in our country, why they're here, and make sure they're paying taxes and contributing to American society. We need to pass immigration reform now.

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