{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-secure-act-protects-daca-recipients-and-provides-needed-reforms", "Grassley: SECURE Act Protects DACA Recipients and Provides Needed Reforms to Immigration System", "2017-12-05", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "IA", "Charles Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Prepared Senate Floor Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee \u201cThe Security, Enforcement, and Compassion United in Reform Efforts (SECURE) Act of 2017\u201d December 5, 2017 \u00a0 I rise today to offer brief remarks regarding the introduction of the Security, Enforcement, and Compassion United in Reform Efforts, or SECURE Act, of 2017. This bill promotes and protects the interests of the American people in a lawful immigration system, and provides a fair and equitable solution on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s the product of several months of hard work between myself and Senators Cornyn, Graham, Tillis, Lankford, Perdue, and Cotton. \u00a0 Before I discuss what exactly this bill does, let me talk about the process we used to reach this point.\u00a0 \u00a0 On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Sessions announced that President Trump had decided to rescind former President Obama\u2019s unlawful executive amnesty program. \u00a0 Because almost 700,000 young people relied on President Obama\u2019s false promise, the Trump Administration called on Congress to find the only real type of long-term solution to this issue\u2014a legislative one.\u00a0 \u00a0 Starting in September, I\u2019ve held multiple meetings with Senators Cornyn, Graham, Tillis, Lankford, Perdue, and Cotton to determine how best to fix DACA. Our aim was to find a solution that not only is fair for DACA recipients, but also promotes the interests of the American people. \u00a0 The immigration policies of the previous administration carried consequences that weren\u2019t always in our best interests.\u00a0 For example, President Obama allowed thousands of people to illegally cross our borders and stay in our country, including dangerous gang members, sex offenders, and violent criminals. Robust border security is crucial to bring integrity back to our nation\u2019s immigration enforcement. \u00a0 The enforcement policies of the previous administration enabled dangerous unauthorized criminals, individuals like Kate Steinle\u2019s killer, to have free reign in our country, risking the safety of innocent Americans. \u00a0 The flagrant disregard of so called \u201csanctuary\u201d jurisdictions unfairly take tax dollars from hardworking Americans, only to ignore the rule of law and their own people\u2019s public safety. \u00a0 In crafting our bill, we also considered the inherent unfairness in our nation\u2019s immigration court and asylum adjudication systems, and how hundreds of thousands of aliens wait in backlogs for years at a time. That\u2019s wrong, it hurts the people who are stuck in that backlog, and it\u2019s unfair to ask the American people and legal immigrants to bear the burden of supporting these people why they wait. \u00a0 And finally, thanks to the leadership of Senators Graham, Perdue, and Cotton, we discussed the need for a merit-based immigration system, one where we bring people to this country based on what they can contribute, and not simply because they have some attenuated family relationship to a legal immigrant who\u2019s already here. \u00a0 So, after having these discussions, and after meeting with the President to get his input and his support, we\u2019ve come up with a plan. This plan is fair to all parties. It\u2019s pro-American. And it\u2019s a solution to DACA. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our plan, the SECURE Act of 2017, provides a solution to all of the issues we discussed. First, building off of the hard work and leadership of Senator Cornyn, we\u2019re putting the days of porous, uncontrolled borders behind us. \u00a0 We\u2019re doing this by mandating the construction of tactical and technological infrastructure at the border. We\u2019re also beefing up our law enforcement and judicial resources, and putting more boots on the ground in Border States, so that we can better apprehend and prosecute those who enter our country illegally. \u00a0 Our plan takes meaningful steps to end the lawlessness and tragedies at the hands of dangerous criminal aliens throughout our country. We do this by cracking down on sanctuary cities, ending the misguided catch and release policies of the previous administration, and finally taking real steps to address intentional visa overstays. \u00a0 In recognition of the many Americans who\u2019ve lost their lives to criminal aliens, we included Kate\u2019s law, named after Kate Steinle.\u00a0 \u00a0 This legislation enhances penalties for repeat illegal border crossers, and expands the inadmissibility and expedited removal of terrorists, gang members, aggravated felons, and drunk drivers. \u00a0 We also provide a fix to the disastrous Zadvydas decision so that the government doesn\u2019t keep releasing dangerous criminals onto our streets because of their home countries\u2019 refusals to take responsibility. \u00a0 Our bill takes steps to eliminate many of the \u201cpull\u201d factors that encourage people to immigrate illegally. \u00a0 We do this by permanently authorizing the e-verify program and providing immunity and other incentives to encourage small businesses to participate. \u00a0 We also take meaningful steps to reduce immigration court and asylum adjudication backlogs by hiring more judges and personnel, limiting the number of continuances an immigrant can receive, and imposing new safeguards to combat well-documented fraud and abuse. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Again, thanks to the leadership and advocacy of Senators Graham, Perdue, and Cotton, our bill eliminates the phenomenon known as \u2018chain migration.\u2019 \u00a0 From the day this bill becomes law, immigrants will only be able to bring their spouses and minor children into the country. \u00a0 This bi-partisan pro-American worker reform, which the President strongly supports, is an important first step towards creating the merit-based, economically productive immigration system that both Democrats and Republicans want to see. \u00a0 Finally, and most importantly, we provide a bi-partisan solution to protect undocumented young people brought to the United States as children by adopting the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy, or the BRIDGE Act. \u00a0 Senator Durbin called the BRIDGE Act \u201can opportunity for supporters and critics of DACA to come together and address a compelling humanitarian issue on a bipartisan basis.\u201d We agree. \u00a0 The BRIDGE Act is supported by Senators Graham, Durbin, Gillibrand, Heller, Murkowski, Feinstein, Nelson, Flake, Schumer and Harris. It would provide relief from deportation and work authorization to DACA recipients, allowing them to continue to fulfill their dreams and contribute to our economy. \u00a0 As you can see, our plan has fair, bi-partisan, and serious provisions. By listening to colleagues, and adopting solutions that both sides can agree on, we\u2019re providing a real solution to the immigration issues our country is facing. \u00a0 Our plan protects the DACA kids, it cracks down on the criminal illegal aliens, and it provides real long-term reforms to our nation\u2019s immigration system that benefit the American people. And it does so through the proper legislative process, which provides greater certainty for Americans and immigrants alike.\u00a0 \u00a0 Importantly, it is also supported by the President. That\u2019s all the more reason to pass this bill and fulfill our promises to the American people and the DACA recipients. \u00a0 Again, I want to thank the hard work of Senators Cornyn, Graham, Tillis, Lankford, Perdue, and Cotton, and their staffs, in developing this solution. I\u2019m looking forward to considering this measure in the new year, and to seeing President Trump sign it into law. \u00a0 -30-", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-secure-act-protects-daca-recipients-and-provides-needed-reforms"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1682689655572176, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}