On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) argued that securing the border will need to be done before any fixes to the legal immigration system.
Lawler stated, [relevant remarks begin around 27:15] “We have a population decline and we have a workforce shortage. The path forward is, number one, secure the border and stop the influx of illegal immigration, number two, to actually fix the legal immigration system so that we can bring people to the United States who want to be here, who want to contribute to our economy, to our culture, to our communities, and to do so legally. The fact is, we have a shortage of doctors, nurses, engineers, home health aides, teachers, ag. workers, construction workers, etc. So, long term, we need immigration. And the reality is that immigration has been vital to the United States over 250 years. The reason that our economy has been so vibrant, the reason that we have been able to advance in so many ways, is, in part, because immigrants want to come to this country and contribute to our economy. So, this is, obviously, a long-running situation. We have not had immigration reform in 38 years. … So, we have to deal with this.”
He continued, “But I think the biggest impediment, right now, obviously, is the crisis at our border. And until people feel confident that we have secured our border, that we have stopped this massive influx, it’s going to be hard to get people to agree on fixing our legal immigration system.”
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