Sen. Ron Johnson Open to Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants

Ianus · 05-02-2013, 09:42 PM

http://oakcreek.patch.com/articles/s...for-immigrants

Quote:

But border security should be the priority, the Republican senator and Tea Party favorite said during an interview with Patch, adding immigration reform should be tackled in bite-sized pieces, not on a comprehensive basis.

U.S. Ron Johnson says he is open to the idea of a pathway to citizenship, or some sort of legal status system, so the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country "can come out of the shadows."

However, the Tea Party-backed Republican said Thursday that Congress should tackle immigration reform on a piecemeal basis — instead of passing a comprehensive plan.

The debate over immigration reform has heated up in recent days, with protests staged Wednesday in cities across the country, including Milwaukee, as part of May Day celebrations. The demonstrations served as a message aimed at Congress, showing there's support for a path to citizenship, according to the New York Times.

In an interview with Patch on Thursday in Bayside, Johnson said he supports some "sort of system" for immigrants to obtain legal status in the nation. However, he said border security should be the priority, and reform legislation should be tackled in bite-sized pieces.

"It is not healthy to have 11 million undocumented individuals in a country," Johnson said. "We need to find out who those people are, provide them some sort of legal status.
Johnson calls for more border security

"If you do the components in the right order — first, security. Americans are skeptical that the government will actually secure the borders," he said. "Most Americans say that's the first step. So, let's actually pass a border security bill, and not be quite so concerned about who is going to certify it.

"In the high-traffic areas, let's build more fence, if we need it put more boots on the ground, electric fencing," Johnson continued. "Let's fund it, let's pass it, then e-verify a guest-worker program."

Congressional Republicans are divided on how to deal with the controversial issue of citizenship. Some Republicans, like U.S. Rep. Ryan, want to make it possible for illegal immigrants to eventually become citizens, as does Johnson. Other Republicans oppose any such effort for "amnesty" for those who are here illegally.

"We treat people with fairness and respect by giving them a path to citizenship with a probationary visa," Ryan said. "They'll have to pay a fine and get in the back of the line, behind the folks who have come here legally."

Ryan told Patch Wednesday he is planning a bilingual town hall meeting in Racine in June to focus on the issue.

A broken immigration system

A bipartisan group of eight lawmakers from the House and Senate, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and coined the "Gang of Eight," has worked for months in private drafting a 844-page piece of legislation, Politico reports.

Rubio isn't optimistic about the legislation passing, however, and neither is Johnson, who opposes the plan.

Still, Johnson said it's important to pass some type of immigration reform this session before an August recess in Congress.

"Border security is not only a illegal immigration problem, but a national security issue," he said.

"If we don't do anything, we just have a very broken legal immigration system, and we are a nation of immigrants, and we need to actually welcome those people," he said. "We should value that people around the world want to come to America."

Johnson said if Congress does nothing to fix the broken system, it will continue to be de facto amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

"If you're asking people to pay a fine, it's not amnesty, you may disagree with the level of the fine for the illegal act," he said. "But, in the end, we are a compassionate society. We're a nation of immigrants, so we're going to treat them with humanity."

He said the components of a comprehensive immigration reform bill should be stripped out and considered individually in the Republican-led House, before reaching the Senate. He said he is afraid if the Senate passes reform, in particular comprehensive reform, it will be criticized by conservatives and liberals alike.

“Let’s get comprehensive out of our minds, and pass the individual components,” Johnson said.

chlehqls · 05-03-2013, 10:59 AM

They're still calling for electric fencing? What is wrong with these people?

Task_1539 · 05-03-2013, 11:29 AM

"maybe they'll want a moat. Maybe they'll want crocs in the moat"

-thepresobama

MIdreamer · 05-03-2013, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chlehqls

They're still calling for electric fencing? What is wrong with these people?

It's hard to understand how any rational people would think this way.

MadMan · 05-03-2013, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Task_1539

"maybe they'll want a moat. Maybe they'll want crocs in the moat"

-thepresobama

Always a jokester.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

They need you!

Forum links

Resources

Join our list

National calendar of events

July

Sen. Ron Johnson Open to Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants