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Policy Positions Re: IMMIGRATION
How do Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) differ on immigration? The National Journal compared and contrasted the two presidential candidates.
OBAMA ON IMMIGRATION
Border security:
- Obama supports providing more personnel along the U.S. border.
- He would also increase physical barriers, technology and real-time intelligence along U.S. borders and at ports of entry.
- Obama would require illegal immigrants with clean criminal records who want to become citizens to pay a fine and back taxes, learn English and go to the back of the line behind immigrants who came into this country legally.
- He would not require the borders to be secured before illegal immigrants could seek citizenship.
- Obama would also increase the number of legal immigrants.
- Obama supports the current system of giving preference to family members of U.S. citizens and legal residents in allocating green cards, and opposes moving to a merit-based point system that would favor potential immigrants with higher-education levels or needed job skills.
- He is open to experimenting with a point system for skills and education that does not reduce the number of family visas now available.
- Supports the creation of a new guest-worker program to meet employers' needs for temporary workers.
- Stipulates that the program must contain protections against driving down American workers' wages and must provide temporary workers with labor rights and give those who meet certain criteria the opportunity to eventually become citizens.
- Would require all employers to use a new electronic system to verify whether newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States and would allow the social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Homeland Security Department to share information about eligibility.
- He would impose stiff penalties on employers who knowingly hire or exploit illegal workers.
For text:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/nj_20080830_3632.php
MCCAIN ON IMMIGRATION
Border security:
- In the interest of national security, McCain first wants to secure the nation's borders, ports and other entry points, and to require border-state governors to certify that their borders are secure.
- He then would pursue other reforms, such as allowing illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship.
- McCain has called for deploying additional personnel, physical and high-tech barriers and surveillance equipment on the borders and for more-effective screening of cargo entering the country.
- McCain has called for the immediate roundup and deportation of the estimated two million illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds.
- He would allow the remaining 10 million illegal immigrants to earn citizenship if they pay a "substantial" fine and back taxes, learn English and "get to the back of the (citizenship) line behind everybody else" with legal status.
- McCain voted for comprehensive bills that would have increased legal immigration and would have revised the system of allocating green cards to give priority to immigrants' education and job skills over family ties.
- He also voted for comprehensive bills that would have created an expanded program used for computer registry to match foreign workers with businesses that need temporary help.
- A new program remains high on his agenda.
- Would require employers to use a new electronic employment verification system to certify that all employees are legal.
- Workers would need "tamper-proof, biometric" identification cards.
- Employers who knowingly hire illegal workers would "be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
For text:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/nj_20080830_3632.php
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