Immigration

hat we need to do is to have a sensible approach to immigration. It needs to be open. It needs to be nondogmatic and nonbigoted. We need to be firm but reasonable in the way we deal with the problem of illegal immigration. And we need to try to get as many of our immigrants who want to do so to become citizens as quickly as possible so that the American people will all see that this is a part of the process of American history which, is a good one for our country.”

—President Bill Clinton

President Clinton has a comprehensive and effective strategy to combat illegal immigration—including strengthening border control, safeguarding the interests of legal workers through increased enforcement of employer sanctions and worksite standards, and removing criminal and other illegal aliens. The President also supports a legal immigration policy that is pro-family and pro-work by making naturalization easier for those eligible for citizenship. In addition, the Administration will continue to protect those who fear persecution in their homeland.

The President is working to reform immigration policies by:

Illegal Immigration

	Deploying more Border Patrol agents than any previous Administration. The Administration has increased the number of Border Patrol agents at the southwest border by 40% since 1993. The Clinton Administration is deploying an additional 1,000 agents and over 550 inspectors at the southwest border. We are also strengthening anti-smuggling efforts to reduce the criminal transport and exploitation of illegal aliens.
	Strengthening enforcement of sanctions against employers that hire illegal immigrants. President Clinton also issued an Executive Order to keep federal contracts from going to businesses that knowingly hire illegal workers.
	Removing a record 51,600 criminal and other illegal aliens from this country in 1995 alone.
	Reimbursing states for a share of the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens and assisting with education and medical care costs. The Clinton Administration is the first Administration to implement a comprehensive strategy from the border to the workplace to control illegal immigration and reduce the cost of illegal immigration to the states.

Legal Immigration and Naturalization

	Making citizenship a reality for more people. Nearly 500,000 new citizens were sworn in during the last fiscal year.
	Increasing the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) budget by 72%. The Administration’s total INS budget for this fiscal year is $2.6 billion.
	Presenting a plan that would lower the overall number of legal immigrants, while preserving family reunification and strengthening protections for U.S. workers.
	Implementing “Citizenship USA” to respond to the increase in citizenship applications this past year. Over one million new applications were received last year. This year, INS is increasing its staff to ensure quick processing of immigration applications and to forge better partnerships with community organizations that provide more information to applicants.

Building on Our Progress

President Clinton will continue to implement his comprehensive strategy to reduce illegal immigration and foster legal immigration and naturalization by:

	Continuing to increase border personnel and technology to curtail illegal crossings and smuggling.
	Vigorously enforcing worksite laws against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.
	Ensuring that American jobs are made available for legal workers.
	Testing effective, nondiscriminatory means of verifying the employment authorization of new employees.
	Reforming and streamlining deportation procedures and seeking enhanced exclusion authority.
	Increasing deportation levels 25% this year and another 50% next year.
	Requiring families to take financial responsibility for immigrants they sponsor.
	Expanding efforts to help legal immigrants become citizens, achieve and maintain self-sufficiency, and participate and contribute fully as members of our national community. The Administration’s naturalization goal this year is to swear in over one million new citizens.
	Fighting against discrimination that denies opportunity to legal immigrants.

Meeting Our Challenges Protecting Our Values