Biden to LULAC: Iron’s hot on reform
Vice President Joe Biden told more than 1,000 people Thursday night that time was of the essence for the passage of immigration reform, saying that the country was in for the “fight of its life” and that the future of America could be decided between now and the Fourth of July, when Congress goes into recess.
Speaking to a predominantly Latino crowd at the national conference for the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, Biden said that now is the time for a “fair, and firm and unfettered path for
11 million people” to become U.S. citizens.
“And we’re not just talking about Hispanics,” said Biden during his 25-minute speech. “We’re talking about Asians and Irish and Africans and immigrants from all over the world.”
Biden noted the economic benefits that would result from the reform, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the “gold standard” of accounting. Not only would it reduce the national deficit by $197 billion over 10 years, Biden said, but it would strengthen a struggling Social Security entitlement program by $200 billion in the same time span.
“The question you should ask is, ‘What will immigration reform do for America?’ ” said Biden at Caesars Palace. “The answer is clear and resounding: It can and will do great things for America.”
His comments come as federal lawmakers attempt to compromise on an immigration reform bill by the end of the month.
The U.S. Senate has reached a tentative agreement to beef up border security. Plans are to invest more than $30 billion along the U.S.-Mexico border, adding as many as 20,000 Border Patrol agents and 18 new unmanned drones while improving hundreds of miles of fencing.
A final vote is expected soon, before the bill heads to the House of Representatives, where it’s expected to meet GOP opposition.
Biden said history has shown that with every wave of immigration, there is always an opposing force, though the country was founded on the hard work of immigrants. The latest wave of immigrants, the majority of them Hispanic, is expected to become the new “majority minority,” a point that has been emphasized by LULAC, the nation’s largest and oldest Hispanic rights organization, with more than 900 councils.
Biden cited statistics showing that
25 percent of the country’s students are Hispanic and that 11 percent of those serving in the armed forces are Hispanic.
“Think of that,” he said. “And we’re having an argument about immigration reform?”
In what has not been considered amid all the talk is the extent to which immigration reform will help foreign policy.
Countries in Central and South America will come to respect the United States, Biden said. He has met plenty of leaders from Central and South America in recent years, and all of them have asked him the same question: “Are you really going to do immigration reform?”
Contact reporter Tom Ragan at tragan@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.
