Goodlatte: Legalization OK if Enforcement Mechanisms in Place
In a Telemundo interview that will air Jan. 12th, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., says he sees “no reason” why illegal aliens shouldn’t be legalized if border and interior enforcement measures are “up and operating.” Goodlatte also broadly discusses the GOP immigration principles Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said will be released soon, Politico reports.
House GOP leaders are overseeing development of the principles, but Goodlatte and other Republicans are being consulted during the drafting stage. In the interview, Goodlatte says the principles are meant to outline for House Republicans how the pieces of immigration reform fit together and “galvanize” support for moving forward.
While not discussing specifics, Goodlatte outlines three major categories of reform —enforcement on the border and in the interior, fixing the legal immigration system and defining the nature of legalization.
He notes a concern among Republicans that President Obama may not enforce the laws that Congress writes. One solution, he says, it to prohibit the Administration from legalizing illegal aliens until measures such as E-Verify and an exit-entry visa system are “up and operating effectively.” He said that state and local governments, in addition to the federal government, should be involved in enforcement.
“If we can have a way to get [enforcement] up and operating, I see no reason why we can’t also have an agreement that shows how people who are not lawfully here can be able to be lawfully here — able to live here, work here, travel to and from their home country, be able to own a business, pay their taxes,” Goodlatte said.
Read more in Politico.