Statement of Administration Policy: S. 744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

(Senate)

(Sen. Schumer, D-NY, and 7 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly supports Senate passage of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

The President has repeatedly called on the Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to enact commonsense, comprehensive immigration reform that lives up to America's heritage as a Nation of laws and a Nation of immigrants and ensures that everyone plays by the same rules. Fixing the Nation's broken immigration system is an economic, national security, and moral imperative. The President reiterated his principles for reform earlier this year – continue to strengthen border security; crack down on employers that hire and exploit undocumented workers; create a meaningful pathway to earned citizenship for undocumented immigrants while also requiring these individuals to pass background checks, pay taxes and a penalty, learn English, and move to the back of the line; and modernize the legal immigration system for families, workers, and employers.

The Administration commends the Senate Judiciary Committee for its open and inclusive process for considering S. 744. The Judiciary Committee held multiple hearings and, during five days of markup, adopted dozens of amendments that strengthened and refined this bill. S. 744 is the product of bipartisan compromise, and the members of the bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight" are also to be applauded for their hard work. As with any compromise, this legislation does not contain every specific element the Administration has called for and it includes problematic provisions, but overall it represents an important step toward the enactment of legislation that encompasses the principles that the President has made clear need to be a part of commonsense immigration reform.

The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to further improve this bill as the full Senate takes the critical next step in creating a fair and effective 21st century immigration system.