» Heinrich: Review Bipartisan Blueprint For Reform

WASHINGTON — Rep. Martin Heinrich says Congress should rewind the national immigration debate five years to help jump-start long-stalled reforms.

In a Journal interview, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate recalled a time in 2007 when a bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators nearly passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The legislation, co-sponsored by bipartisan-leaning lawmakers such as Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico and the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, eventually became mired in politics and died.

Heinrich, currently a U.S. House member from New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, said Congress should reassess the 2007 blueprint.

That legislation would have allowed the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S. to remain if they passed a criminal background check, paid a fine and met other requirements.

Heinrich said the so-called path to citizenship is the only pragmatic solution to the problem. He also said the “amnesty” label doesn’t apply.

“It’s not amnesty if you make them take responsibility for what they did,” Heinrich said. “If you put people through a background check, make them pay any back taxes, make them pay a fine and then get them into a legal, workable system where they’re not jumping ahead of other potential legal immigrants,” Heinrich said, “that is a responsible way to move people into a workable system that isn’t amnesty.”

Heinrich said a law passed in Arizona in 2010 that allows police to demand proof of citizenship from suspected illegal immigrants “sends the wrong message.”

“The check-your-papers provisions are a step back for our country,” Heinrich said. “I think there are a lot of people who are rightfully worried it could be used for racial profiling. It’s the wrong solution to a very real problem.”

Heinrich credited the Obama administration for stepping up border enforcement.

Rep. Martin Heinrich

“We’ve seen a dramatic drop in deportations for illegal border crossings, as there should be,” Heinrich said.

As for physically securing the border, Heinrich opposes construction of border-long fences or walls to keep illegal immigrants out. Heinrich said strategic barriers along the border work best.

“I’ve spent some time on the border and the things I hear that really work are the vehicle barriers,” Heinrich said. “The places where you have fencing where wildlife can move back and forth but you can’t get a truck across the border are the places where they’ve really seen a difference in the amount of narco-trafficking going on.”

Heinrich said the federal government must improve its battle against violent Mexican drug cartels.

“I think we need to do more,” he said. “We need to really chase the money and find tools to crack down on the cartels that are moving that product across the border. These are sophisticated operations, and we need a sophisticated law enforcement response. I think we’re getting better at it, but I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Heinrich was among the earliest co-sponsors of the Dream Act, which allows children brought to America illegally by their parents to become U.S. citizens if they graduate from high school or enlist in the military.

“I continue to support it, but I would prefer to see it done as part of comprehensive reform,” Heinrich said. “If we can’t build consensus for that, I think we should move forward on it by itself. I think it’s just good policy.”
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal