We should have strong border security.
It doesn’t make sense for us to allow hundreds of thousands of people coming through our borders without us knowing who they are. Oftentimes in very hazardous situations, and unmonitored situations that could do us long term damage.
I think we should have a serious employer verification system where employers, when they hire somebody, find out what their work status is; are they able to work here legally?
Right now, what employers will say is, “Well, we checked their social security card. That’s the best we can do.”
So we’ve got to set up a tamper proof system, and then hold employers accountable.
You pay a fine, you learn English, you stay out of trouble, you’ve got a job, you go to the back of the line, so that those who came here illegally, that backlog is cleared before you have opportunities for citizenship.
That is a reasonable approach, and one that will ultimately address the biggest problem for American workers, and that is the depressive effect of undocumented workers who aren’t right now subject to oftentimes minimum wage laws, or worker safety laws, or all the other things, that make them cheaper, for employers, if they’re out of the shadows, then we can make sure those laws are enforced, and those costs, advantages for hiring a documented workers go away.
Barack Hussein Obama, 2007