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House set to hold hearing on US immigration system

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    Lawmakers focus on pathway to citizenship, border

  • Duration 5:07
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45 minutes the House Judiciary Committee will hold the first hearing of the new congress on immigration in the look at.

A wide variety of ways to improve the current legal immigration system and enforcement of our laws my next guest will be in that hearing.

Virginia congressman Randy Forbes is a Republican congressman good to see you.

There are some of your colleagues on the Republican side in house who were deeply concerned about primary challenges.

From Tea Party candidates who will label any effort of engaging a pathway to citizenship as amnesty.

Can that be ironed out.

Well Greg you can always have different agendas and different I individuals that bring things to the table when we're trying to get it policies but.

That's not what our focus will be in the next 45 minutes when we begin this hearing this is an important issue.

And we need to have a fair hearing we need to have everybody coming to the table we need to put this fact someone.

But there are some -- facts that have to be answered and one of the big ones Greg that you don't hear talked about very much is that oftentimes this comes down to our priorities and when the president talks about a pathway to citizenship.

We do need to recognize there's currently -- pathway to citizenship.

He's putting priorities on individuals that haven't walked down that pathway -- tried to circumvent it.

Sure one of the things that we're not hearing people talk about is the -- million people that are currently one that pathway to citizenship.

-- aren't seeing the end some of awaiting an average of seven years here because of all the bureaucratic red tape.

So we want to put all that on the table and hopefully get a good policy for the country.

-- Republicans losing a lot of the -- Hispanic vote because if your current positions.

Well you know you do the polling and you can do the focus groups and again people can focus on that sometime you have to choose between short term politics so what do you want the policies that.

Our focus Greg is going to be on trying to make sure we're getting that policies for the country and that's what we have to ask him.

There are some things that I hope that we'll -- coming forward.

And among those are how we get the quality workers the people that are doing jobs.

That other people won't do in this country how can we opened the -- for those individuals -- that's not in this program.

And again our border security which I think a lot of people are gonna be asking some tough questions about that.

-- Border security has actually I've been beefed up considerably in the last four years deportations are about 400.

Thousand.

A year in a recent study found.

That the net flow into the United States is zero or negative that was that Pew Hispanic Center.

To actually enforcement's been working pretty well hasn't.

Well Greg I haven't talked to too many people on the border that thinks that our current -- is working very very well.

We've seen as you know this administration actually shut down some of the border.

Patrols that we have we have seen them cut down some of those resources.

And here's the question I mean we're gonna have to ask are we doing the things we need to to get credibility to the American people that were actually doing the border security we need to do.

Because that's going to be a part and parcel of making sure.

That people are -- -- embrace immigration reform across the country the last time there was amnesty 1986 Ronald Reagan signed it into -- he had no problem with the word amnesty but it backfired for the following reason.

There was no enforcement on employers hiring more illegals and that lured millions and millions more into the United States.

Why not simply have a useful and workable enforcement mechanism on employers I was stunned to read.

That 90% of American employers don't even use.

100%.

Accuracy.

Well Greg that's another thing that will want to be taking a hard look at and you know always there's.

Something on both sides of that equation there are some employers obviously that abuse that will want to look at that.

But also you hear from employers across the country the difficulty some time.

Of them being able to verify Bryant -- whether they have appropriate employees and we want to make sure that we're doing everything necessary.

To help employers be able to overcome those burdens and make sure that they are complying one was that we have a question would you be in favor of any.

Short path to citizenship for children but for adults who came here illegally.

They would have to do it would be a more arduous path you talking about they'd have to register and submit to a background check pay taxes and penalties.

Would that work would you vote for that.

-- Greg and one of the reasons that we're having these hearings is to see what will work and what's the best approached Ford and one of the things that I would be in favor of -- putting them on the table and getting the facts and the analysis for doing that.

We haven't even begun this hearing in 45 minutes and I think one of the things.

That's problematic is when you have people that draw lines in the sand and say they won't do this but they won't do that.

I hope what we'll see with the Judiciary Committee is that we get a fair hearing of this it's a balanced hearing I believe that's what you'll find out.

And hopefully we'll get the answers to a lot of those questions coming out of this hearing well we look forward to watching it representative Randy Forbes of Virginia thank you so much for him thank you --

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