Obama Border Czar's ‘Paradigm Shift’: Give Illegals ‘Road to Citizenship,’ Let Mexicans Work

CNSNews ^ | October 18, 2010 | Edwin Mora

[jazusamo]

Complete title: Obama Border Czar's ‘Paradigm Shift’: Give Illegals ‘Road to Citizenship,’ Let Mexicans Work Here Legally in Future

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin speaks at the Migration Policy Institute on the future vision of CBP with Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program, MPI. (CBP photo by James Tourtellotte)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin, who oversees both the Customs Service and the Border Patrol, says the United States needs to undertake a “paradigm shift” in how it views the U.S.-Mexico border.

This shift, Bersin explained in a speech last Thursday at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., would include both a “road to citizenship” for illegal aliens and understanding that the “best way” to secure the border is to allow Mexicans to work in the United States legally in the future—to create what he called “a legitimate labor market between the United States and Mexico.”

VIDEO 2:07 minutes

On Monday, a CBP spokesperson told CNSNews.com that what Bersin meant by this was “having a temporary worker program that is conducive to our labor needs.” 

The unemployment rate in the United States was at 9.6 percent in September and has been at 9.5 percent or higher since August 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

President Barack Obama appointed Bersin to oversee U.S. border security in March. Bersin, a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard who also won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford and a Yale law degree, formerly served as secretary of education for the state of California and as chairman of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority.

On Thursday, Bersin told the Migration Policy Institute that when U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon met in May they “articulated the vision for this new era—the creation of a 21st Century border, one that enhances our security and mutual economic competitiveness in an increasingly globalized world.”

“Underlying this new vision is a paradigm shift—a change in how people view the border,” Bersin said. “Historically, governments have approached border management as, essentially, ‘holding the line.’ But the border isn’t an isolated place disconnected from the interiors of the United States and Mexico. What we do at the border has effects that are felt far away from the jurisdictional line—especially in an era of international trade and global supply chains. Although policing the line will remain a key element of any border management approach, we must shift our thinking and take a more holistic view of border management, one that is based on securing the flows of trade and travel.”

Bersin twice called for establishing what he called a “legitimate labor market between the United States and Mexico” and said this was the “best way” to secure the border.

“What are the elements that will create for the first time a legitimate labor market between the United States and Mexico?” Bersin asked rhetorically during his speech.

In answering his own question, Bersin dismissed what he described as calls for “mass amnesty” or “mass deportations,” calling instead for a “long road to citizenship” for illegal aliens who choose to become U.S. citizens.

Such a program, he said, would call for “responsibility from those who are here illegally, so that they can register, admit to having broken the law, pay a fine, pay back taxes, get right with the law, and learn English before they can get on that long road toward citizenship if they chose to pursue it.”

In a question-and-answer session following his speech, Bersin said establishing “a legitimate labor market between the United States and Mexico” was the “best way” to secure the border.

“Absent comprehensive immigration reform people will attempt to enter this country illegally, drawn by the job market,” Bersin said. “It is our job to stop them, and we will do our best to do that. We are doing better than ever before. But this is not about real estate, it’s about flows of people and securing the border by deterring and preventing illegal immigration. The best way to do that is to have a legitimate labor market between the United States and Mexico.”

Asked what Bersin meant by “a legitimate labor market between the United States and Mexico,” a CBP spokesperson told CNSNews.com, “What I can tell you, is that from the context of Thursday's speech, what I believe he was referring to was a key element of immigration reform--having a temporary worker program that is conducive to our labor needs.”

[jazusamo]

Not surprising Obama picked this Bersin for his border czar, he wants amnesty.

[rrrod]

The USA needs to unmexican.

[La Lydia]

Doris has been working for amnesty since she was Clinton’s INS head back in the 90s and went way out of her way not to enforce the law. She is OPEN BORDERS and has bounced back and forth between government and the Carnegie Endowment for decades. She was incompetent. Bersin has thrown his cards on the table.

[jazusamo]

Please bump the Freepathon and donate or become a monthly donor!

[Nachum]

The list, ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

http://www.nachumlist.com/

[forgotten man]

We already have laws and visas that allow Mexicans (and others) to come to the USA on temporary work permits to work in agriculture and return home. They can come and go legally. The problem is this law is ignored like the rest of our immigration laws.

[Will88]

President Barack Obama appointed Bersin to oversee U.S. border security in March. Bersin, a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard who also won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford and a Yale law degree,

That resume should automatically disqualify anyone from serving in a position that requires common sense and rational thinking. This character was guaranteed to be steeped in political correctness and multi-culti babble.

[PMAS]

*

[jazusamo]

I agree...I question whether this Bersin has any idea what the real problem is and wonder if he’s even been to the southern border and talked to people who live there and the County Sheriff’s, I’d bet not.

[Will88]

We already have laws and visas that allow Mexicans (and others) to come to the USA on temporary work permits to work in agriculture and return home.

And the biggest problem is one that's seldom mentioned: far more want to come here to work, and to stay, than anything other than outright open borders would ever allow.

This country will either learn to say no, and mean it, or it will be overrun by illegals from many parts of the world.

[Venturer]

Hasn’t this already been done a couple of times?

Do we really need to do this every ten years or so, and if we keep doing it, what happens when we overflow.

[jazusamo]

Until we eliminate work for illegals through employers and deny welfare and free medical care for them this will keep happening. We have to send them home or let them return on their own rather than support them.

[sheik yerbouty]

!@#$R%T@#$%^&^%$#$%^&*&^%$#@$%^&*()!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jazusamo]

Bump!

[SandRat]

bttt

[screaminsunshine]

Send the Mexicans home and make the welfare parasites ear their keep.