Gov. Napalitano wants staples for green cards
Gov. Napalitano wants staples for green cards
Date: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 1:40 AM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1651 -- 3/06/2007 >>>>>
Arizona's Governor Janet Napolitano recently visited Washington DC to make
an appearance at the National Press Club. She did create quite a scene!
Napolitano made it quite clear that she thinks all limits to H-1B visas
should be eliminated.
Beyond the Arizona-Sonora relationship, our countrys economic
interest in legal immigration needs attention. We need scientists
and engineers. Yet, restrictions on our H-1B visas force foreign
graduates in vital areas such as engineering and medicine, who
have trained here, to use their talents elsewhere.
Napolitano showed more insight than most politicians, reporters, and
pundits when she explained that the one thing high-tech, agriculture, and
meat packing have in common is a lust for more visas so that they can
import more cheap labor. To the plutocrats the only difference between a
cabbage picker and a computer programmer is the salary. It's actually quite
rare for politicians to acknowledge that fact and it's often even ignored
by immigration reform activists.
Like most politicians, Napolitano blindly believes what Bill Gates says.
The allure of Gates' cash and his demigod image is tough to resist. To
Napolitano's credit she ran her campaign with state money instead of
private donations so she probably isn't in debt to Gates like many
politicians. Of course Napolitano didn't need private cash because there
was never a doubt she would win the 2006 election.
Napolitano is referring to the Bill Gates op-ed that appeared in the
Washington Post (see newsletter "Bill Gates urges Congress to increase
H-1B").
In short, our immigration issues are not only about Arizona and
Sonora, or agriculture and meat packing. Silicon Valley has just
as great a stake in immigration reform. If you dont believe me,
read the column by Bill Gates that appeared in last Sundays
Washington Post.
Napolitano pulled out the old clichi about stapling a green card onto a
diploma of anyone who graduated with an advanced degree.
After a successful background check, I believe that every one of
them should have a green card stapled to their diplomas.
It's rather interesting that Napolitano recognizes that high-tech
industries have just as much interest in raising the number of
visas as employers such as agriculture and meat packing.
Napolitano didn't originate the "staple a green card to a diploma"
clichi. I'm not sure where who originated it but it has been used since
at least 1996. If any of you history buffs know where the clichi started
please let me know.
Here is a sampling of the clichi from various plutocrats, power-brokers,
politicians, and pundits:
Let's staple a green card to every engineering PhD earned by
non-Americans...
Michael C. Maibach, Vice President for Government Affairs at Intel, March,
1996
"We should just staple a green card to every advanced
degree granted to a foreign national from a US university
in science and engineering,"
Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, February 2006
The United States "should staple a green card to
every kid, every foreign national that graduates with a
degree in engineering and science, so that they stay here.
John Doerr, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, November 2006
"We should staple a green card to every foreign-born
student who completes a college-level program in engineering.
Marty Singer, CEO of PCTEL and chairman of the American Electronics
Association's Midwest Council, 2006
We should be stapling Green Cards to the diplomas of every
foreign national who graduates from a U.S. educational
institution with a masters or PhD, and we should keep the
world's best and brightest here in the U.S. to help
strengthen our economy."
AEA, August 2005
"if you've got a Ph.D from Iowa State, we'd like you to stay,'
Romney says. 'We'll staple a green card to your diploma.
Mitt Romney, candidate for president, February 2007
Allen said of the foreign graduates of advanced US degrees in
math and science that he'd staple a visa to their diploma.
Sen. Allen (R-VA), February 2007
People who graduate in these very technical fields that are
critical to our industries should get a green card stapled
to their diploma."
Thomas Friedman, "The World is Flat", 2006
ATTN TO NUMBERSUSA Faxers -- Numbersusa has a fax to send to Napolitano
concerning her speech. It may not be available for non-Arizona residents.
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http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles/2007/03/03/news/news9.txt
TUESDAY MARCH 6, 2007 Last modified:
Saturday, March 3, 2007 1:14 PM CST
Governor says scientists, engineers should be given work visa priority
By Howard Fischer
/Capitol Media Services
Foreigners who have degrees in special fields should be automatically
entitled to come work in the United States regardless of existing federal
visa restrictions, Gov. Janet Napolitano said Tuesday.
In a speech to the National Press Club, the governor said the United States
needs scientists and engineers. But she said existing restrictions on work
visas for professionals result in these foreign students who have trained
at U.S. universities being forced to work elsewhere.
"After a successful background check, I believe that every one of them
should have a green card stapled to their diplomas,'' the governor told the
audience.
But Napolitano's desire to allow more "temporary workers'' into the United
States -- she refuses to use the phrase "guest workers'' -- is not limited
to professional fields. She wants to "streamline the visa process'' to
ensure that any industry which needs foreign workers can get them.
Napolitano said the current system is "out of whack.''
She said that, on a per capita basis, the Dominican Republic is allocated
more visas than Mexico.
"No wonder it takes, on average, more than 10 years to get a legal
immigrant visa from Mexico,'' Napolitano said. "Talk about an incentive to
cross illegally.''
Napolitano said the United States needs to "widen the legal labor pool and
match the evolving labor needs'' of the country.
"By adjusting our visa processes, we can simultaneously end the backlogs
and meet the increasing demands of our agricultural, bi and high-tech
industries and our economy in a timely fashion,'' she said.
In her 20-minute speech and more than a half hour of questions, Napolitano
also said she opposes changing the Constitution t deny automatic U.S.
citizenship to children of illegal immigrants. Federal courts have
interpreted the Constitution to say that any child born in this country is
a citizen, a stance some state and federal legislators hope to overturn.
"I don't believe you take a failed national immigration policy out on
children,'' the governor said. "They don't choose where they're going to be
born. They don't choose where they're going to be brought.''
She said altering the Constitution would be "very contra to th history of
our country.''
She also said the patrols along the border by Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
has had a positive impact -- though not necessarily in the group's goal of
spotting those entering the country illegally and calling Border Patrol.
"They filled the perceived vacuum in federal law,'' Napolitano said.
"They were kind of an outward manifestation of the public disenchantment
with an immigration system that's broken and the real loss of operational
control of the border,'' she said, citing 2005 figures that the Border
Patrol apprehended 550,000 people trying to enter this country illegally.
"No wonder people are angry and mad, and perceived quite correctly that
this was a system that didn't work,'' she said.
"You can say what you want about them,'' the governor continued.
"But they drew public attention to that problem -- and particularly public
attention outside Arizona.''
Napolitano also is in at least partial agreement with Arizona legislators
who are moving to block the state from complying with the federal Real ID
Act. That law requires that states change their procedures for issuing
driver licenses to ensure that those who get the documents actually are who
they claim they are an are in this country legally.
She cited the $11 billion cost to states -- which is not being picked up by
the federal government.
"So then you've got to ask, are we getting $11 billion in real improvement
in identifying citizens,'' the governor said. "Or is this yet another
feel-good piece of legislation at inordinate cost to the states that, in
the end, all it's going to do is raise the price of the average driver's
license for the average American.''
Napolitano also the law would "make every driver's license cler in the
United States an immigration document specialist,'' something they are not
now trained to do.
The Senate Government Committee last month approved a measure forbidding
the state Motor Vehicle Division from complying with the federal law. That
legislation, though, has been held up in the Senate Rules Committee.
At the very least, Napolitano said the 2008 deadline for states to comply
with the law is "totally unrealistic'' and should b delayed.
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http://azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/NR_022707_NATIONAL%20PRESS%20CLUB%20FINAL.pdf
GOVERNOR JANET NAPOLITANO
ADDRESS TO THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
REGARDING IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY
PRESENTED TO THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
WASHINGTON, D.C.
FEBRUARY 27, 2007
PAGE 1 OF 6
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB ADDRESS
REGARDING IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY
GOVERNOR JANET NAPOLITANO
FEBRUARY 27, 2007
My name is Janet Napolitano and I am the recently re-elected Governor of
Arizona. My topic today is one of the single greatest challenges that any
governor has to face on a day-to-day basis: immigration, both illegal and
legal, into the United States.
Our current immigration system is broken. It is too easy for the bad
guys to enter our country and too difficult for the good guys --
whose energies and intellects we need -- to obtain lawful status. The
failure to adequately control our borders reveals deep cracks in our
Department of Homeland Security, unfairly affects states like mine that are
on the border, and gives rise to ugly and unproductive political rhetoric.
In a moment I will detail what Arizona has done, but that should not
detract from my central message: Congress and the President must act, and
they must act this year, to fix this broken system. I am not alone.
Governors from the border states -- and the American people across the
nation -- have already waited too long for an answer, a solution, and
effective results. Washington must give us a law that is both enforceable
and enforced. They must delve beneath bumper sticker phrases like
"sealing the border" or "comprehensive reform" and get at this issue with
all its complexities and political nuance. Weve heard too much talk
about border security and not enough action. They must commit to
immigration as one of the signature domestic and foreign policy issues of
our day, because as in so many things, the continued failure to act will be
worse than almost any legislation that can be passed.
I come to the immigration issue with unique experience. From 1993 through
1997, I was the United States Attorney for Arizona, a state with a 376-mile
border with Mexico. In case youre wondering, 376 miles is roughly the
distance between New York City and Norfolk, Virginia. From 1998 through
2002, I was Arizonas attorney general. Since 2003, I have been governor.
Consequently, I have seen the border in every dimension, and unlike many in
Washington, I have actually walked, flown by helicopter and even ridden a
horse over much of it. The Arizona border is rough, rugged desert and
mountainous terrain. It is picturesque in places; but it is deadly if you
are walking in 120-degree heat carrying only a plastic water jug.
I have been in the drug tunnels, where cocaine and marijuana by the ton
come into our country, and the sewers where children -- who are crossing
the border alone -- sleep at night; I have seen the campsites strewn with
abandoned clothing, human waste and refuse.
I have also supervised the prosecution of more than 6,000 immigration
felonies plus dozens more large scale drug trafficking and money laundering
rings. I have seized assets and
PAGE 2 OF 6
sought to convert them into something useful, including a domestic violence
shelter in Douglas, Arizona. Other needs abound; for example, Tucson needs
an expanded morgue. After all, the dead bodies the Border Patrol finds in
the desert have to go somewhere.
I have witnessed firsthand the end result of a federal border strategy that
does not address the root causes of illegal immigration; instead, it
funnels immigration traffic into Arizona from Texas and California. Let me
give you some facts to put our challenge into proper perspective:
In 2006, in a 24-hour period, an estimated 4,000 immigrants would cross
illegally cross into my state. Although that number has gone down by about
a third since the National Guard was deployed in mid-2006 under Operation
Jump Start, even todays number will be significant. Of those who cross
today, an estimated 1,400 will be picked up and sent back for another try.
Most of the rest will make their way, by themselves, in small groups, or in
groups of 100 or more, through southern Arizona until they disappear into
Tucson and Phoenix. There, they hide in human stash houses in neighborhoods
until arrangements are made to transport them anywhere across the country.
Now, let me tell you what happens to your state when youre an illegal
immigration funnel. Emergency rooms close to the border are filled to
capacity -- sometimes beyond -- with illegal immigrants, some of whom
are quite literally dropped off around the corner by the Border Patrol so
the federal government wont have to foot the bill for their care.
Coyote is the word used to describe human smugglers. When youre a
funnel like Arizona, the price paid to a Coyote soars. The black market for
stolen cars -- used to transport illegal immigrants multiplies; so does
the market for the fraudulent documents that are used to obtain jobs
illegally.
And our states criminal justice system is particularly hard hit. If an
illegal immigrant commits a crime in Arizona, he typically is not given
bail, so he spends more time in jail than most prisoners. He is indigent,
so he is represented by a public defender, paid for by Arizona taxpayers.
And when he is convicted in Arizona, he is sent to a prison system that has
nearly 15 percent more inmates than beds, forcing our Department of
Corrections to resort to triple bunking and lockup beds. In the last seven
years, the number of foreign nationals in Arizona jails and prisons has
grown by almost 60 percent, while the remaining prison population grew by
only half that rate.
It seems only fitting that I bill the U.S. Government for these added,
extra costs. After all, under a federal law known as SCAAP -- the State
Criminal Alien Assistance Program -- the federal government is supposed
to reimburse the states for the incarceration costs for illegal immigrants.
So I sent Attorney General Gonzales an invoice for $77 million. Then, I
updated it to $195 million. Since 2005, Ive sent the Attorney General a
total of seven separate invoices -- including late fees -- the last one
totaling $350 million. There has been only minimal reimbursement; our
current unrecovered costs are estimated at well over $300 million. For what
hardworking Arizonans are absorbing in these costs alone we could pay for
all-day kindergarten for every five-year-old in the state. The
Administration and Congress say theyre against new
PAGE 3 OF 6
taxes, and yet -- by their inaction -- they have imposed an "illegal
immigration tax" on Arizona taxpayers, and on the taxpayers from every
other border state.
The federal government refuses to foot the bill, or to deal in any
effective way with the scope of this issue. In the face of that refusal,
states have had to act. Here is what Arizona is doing:
We began with the principle of prevention. First, we set up a statewide
Task Force on Fraudulent IDs, the lifeblood of the human smuggling
trade. I put in charge of the task force the director of our State Liquor
Department -- someone who knows a lot about fake IDs! Under her
direction, the task force has disrupted several major fraudulent ID
manufacturers, resulting in more than 100 arrests in just 18 months, and a
significant dent in the fraudulent document racket in Arizona.
Then, second, we applied innovative, state-of-the-art technology to the
solution. As I mentioned earlier, human smugglers rely on stolen vehicles
for their transit needs. I directed our Department of Public Safety --
Arizonas Highway Patrol -- to station high-tech and mobile cameras on
southbound traffic lanes to Mexico. Our Department of Public Safety has
also pioneered the use of advanced license plate reader technology that
vastly improves our ability to detect the stolen vehicles used by human
smugglers. When we catch the cars we can arrest the criminals who are
driving them -- often preventing additional crimes in the process.
Third, and in some ways most important, we applied the principles of
partnership and cooperation. I have entered into separate law enforcement
agreements with the Governor of Sonora, Mexico, the state that borders
Arizona. Under our joint agreement, our police radios used by both states
now interconnect; checkpoints in Sonora have now been established; and
additional state police are deployed to the border from both Arizona and
Sonora.
Perhaps the picture I have painted so far is too one-sided, for it only
depicts the down side of being a border state. Here is the upside:
In bilateral trade, Mexico is our countrys second biggest trading
partner, while we are Mexicos largest. As for my state, Arizona has no
more important trading partner. We export more than $4 billion in goods to
Mexico in a typical year. Roughly 95,000 full-time jobs in Arizona are
directly attributable to our trade relationship.
I spend more time working with the Governor of Sonora than I spend with any
U.S. governor. Governor Bours and I work together in developing mutual
security plans, modernizing our ports of entry, and improving our
transportation corridors. We co-chair an organization of government and
business leaders from both states that meets twice every year to work on
economic development, real estate, tourism and other initiatives. The two
states have been doing this for more than 45 years. It is a model for
U.S.-Mexican relations.
Beyond the Arizona-Sonora relationship, our countrys economic interest
in legal immigration needs attention. We need scientists and engineers.
Yet, restrictions on our H-1B visas force foreign graduates in vital areas
such as engineering and medicine, who have trained
PAGE 4 OF 6
here, to use their talents elsewhere. After a successful background check,
I believe that every one of them should have a green card stapled to their
diplomas. In short, our immigration issues are not only about Arizona and
Sonora, or agriculture and meat packing. Silicon Valley has just as great a
stake in immigration reform. If you dont believe me, read the column by
Bill Gates that appeared in last Sundays Washington Post.
Despite the beneficial aspects of immigration, it is illegal immigration
that dominates the public debate. Our federal governments failure to
address illegal immigration has fueled a growing and understandable
national mood of frustration and anger, and has made Lou Dobbs who he is
today. I have been at the crossroads of that political debate.
Ive prosecuted the illegal immigrants and the smugglers; I have also
vetoed eight bills from my state legislature that I deemed overly harsh and
ineffective. I declared a state of emergency and was the first governor to
openly advocate for the National Guard at the border; yet, I also have
refused to agree that a wall by itself is an answer. As I often say, "You
show me a 50-foot wall, and Ill show you a 51-foot ladder."
I also refuse to concede that illegal immigration is a political winner for
those who simplistically suggest we can just "seal" the border. I won
re-election with 63 percent of the vote, carrying every county and
legislative district in my state, despite the fact that my opponents
chief complaint against me was that I was somehow "soft" on immigration.
Im not. And he lost.
We must have the courage to talk openly and honestly with the American
people about the need to address immigration. And we must have federal
legislation that is reality-based. One popular proposal that is not
reality-based is to require all undocumented persons to become legal
citizens by returning to their country of origin and then applying to get
back in. But how do you get 11 million people, many of whom risked their
lives to get here, or were brought here as infants, have long-standing jobs
and homes, and have children who are U.S. citizens, to voluntarily leave in
the hope of someday returning to America? That presumes we have the
administrative and legal infrastructure to handle such a mass exodus. We
dont.
11 million people. That would be like asking everyone who lives in New York
City and Los Angeles to get up and move. What a joke.
So, lets turn to reality.
Here are some of the key elements of a real border plan:
The first is the development of innovative, technology-driven border
control between the ports of entry. Boots on the ground definitely help,
but we can shore up our border gaps with ground-based sensors, radar, and
unmanned aerial vehicles for wide-area intrusive-detection. Any combination
of the above will work far better than any 10 or 20 or 50 miles of wall.
The Department of Homeland Security is now installing this kind of
technology. They need increased funding to sustain their efforts.
PAGE 5 OF 6
As my own aside, we can incentivize innovative technologies here that can
be used by our Department of Defense for our own security needs or, indeed,
marketed around the world.
Second, we must fundamentally reform the visa system and streamline the
visa process. Let me give you an idea of how out-of-whack our current
system is: the Dominican Republic has a population of about 8 million
people; the Republic of Mexico has more than 100 million. Yet under the
U.S. visa system operating now, the Dominican Republic -- per capita --
is allocated more visas than Mexico! No wonder it takes, on average, more
than 10 years to get a legal immigrant visa from Mexico -- talk about an
incentive to cross illegally. This needs to change to widen the legal labor
pool and match the evolving labor needs of the United States. While were
at it, we should institute tamper-proof immigration documents to quell the
fraudulent ID market.
By adjusting our visa processes, we can simultaneously end the backlogs and
meet the increasing demands of our agricultural, bio and high-tech
industries and our economy in a timely fashion.
Third, we must institute a temporary worker program with no amnesty. Let me
repeat that: a temporary worker program with no amnesty. Foreign labor
should not be a substitute for U.S. workers; but it is critical that we
bring foreign workers out of the shadows, put the clamps on the underground
labor market and bring greater stability to our workforce.
As a side note, I reject the term "guest" worker. To me, this implies
someone coming here to take a vacation. In fact, these people are coming to
work. Their presence should be balanced with the demand for American
workers, not superimposed like some sort of icing on a cake.
Fourth, we have to acknowledge that illegal immigration is a
supply-and-demand problem, and that Congress must address both sides of
that equation. Employers who hire illegal immigrants -- and know it --
should be held accountable and penalized. There are existing federal
verification systems for employers, but theyre not enough; those systems
need to be able to interface with Social Security databases so employers
can perform real-time verification that actually means something. We have
the technology; now we need to put it to work. And again -- employers who
defy the law and feed the demand side of the illegal immigration equation
should be punished. This means providing additional resources to the
Department of Justice for employer enforcement and prosecution. Debarment
should also be an available sanction.
Fifth, we must modernize our border infrastructure. Border enforcement
designed to stop drugs and other contraband should not hinder the flow of
legitimate travel and commerce. In Arizona, we are now developing
cyberports and FAST lanes to ensure that our trade and goods travel quickly
and safely through our ports. Much more can and should be done -- a fact
which any of you will recognize the next time you spend five hours waiting
to cross from Tijuana to San Diego.
Sixth, Congress must discard the "report to deport" theory. The only
realistic alternative we have -- for those who are already living
illegally in the United States -- is to create a strict, stringent
pathway to citizenship. That pathway must involve a substantial fine,
learning English,
PAGE 6 OF 6
having no criminal history, keeping a job, paying taxes, then getting in
the back of the line and waiting your turn.
However, we should never again allow ourselves to fall into this
immigration "no-win" zone. After the law changed in 1986, the federal
government did virtually nothing to enforce it, to adjust our immigration
patterns to our countrys evolving labor needs, or to improve border
security. Thats how the 11 million got here. Thats why we need an
efficient, effective and properly resourced Justice Department, an
immigration system that can police visa overstays and ongoing employer
enforcement.
Finally, Congress and the President must address the root causes of illegal
immigration by engaging with directly Mexico and Latin America. We need to
improve the standard of living in these countries and we can make progress
in that area by promoting opportunity and ownership, credit and capital.
When President Bush meets with President Calderon next month, the issue of
capital investment should be a key component of any immigration agreement.
Indeed, when I met with President Calderon just three weeks ago, we spoke
specifically of the need for capital investment and job creation,
especially in the southern states of his country.
Immigration reform is not simple, but it can be done, and it can be done on
a bipartisan basis. In 2006, the difficulties of immigration reform and the
federal governments dismal track record in addressing the problem of
illegal immigration prompted the Western Governors Association, which I
chaired at the time, to sit down, together, and develop a solid framework
for reform. We left our politics at the door, and brought with us a
commitment to examine the challenge from all angles and create a solution
that addresses all components. The reform proposal reflects our shared
belief that no singular approach to our immigration problems will succeed.
The governors believe that enforcement alone is not the answer. Similarly,
a temporary worker program alone is no panacea for the status of our
system.
Drafted by Utahs Governor Huntsman and me, the WGA strategy received not
just bipartisan but unanimous support from our colleagues. I would venture
to say that no other immigration proposal has received such diverse
political support.
Arizona is waiting. So is California, New Mexico and the Presidents home
state of Texas. In fact, all of America is waiting -- and time is running
out.
It is going to require Congress to end the rhetoric, stop the politics,
provide sustained funding, and turn away from extreme, unworkable solutions
that solve nothing and only delay the benefits of real reform.
We can restore our respect for the rule of law and our rich immigrant
heritage while preparing our economy and workforce for a changing world.
For the sake of our nation, we must. For the sake of our nation, we will.
Thank you.
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