March 22, 2007

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Speaks at Cooley

Immigration reform is one of the nation’s top priorities, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney General Rachel Brand. It’s one of the hottest topics for the president and the Department of Justice, Brand informed listeners at Cooley Law School on March 22.

Brand was brought in by the Cooley Federalist Society to speak on immigration.

Border security and immigration are intertwined issues, she said, adding that there are two main components to include when thinking about immigration.

“First, we’re a nation of immigrants,” she said, pointing out the diversity among listeners at the presentation. It’s important to continue having that as an important national value.

“Second, we’re a nation of laws,” she noted, adding that the two components are not mutually exclusive.

Border security is important to national security, she noted, explaining that the three major illegal activities in this area all often involve violence. Drug trafficking, alien smuggling, and human trade are not only illegal in their own right, but spawn collateral crimes, i.e., murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, and prostitution. Violent cross-border crime is just one of the reasons the United States has to get a grip on border security, she indicated.

Toward that goal, federal border financing has doubled, technology has improved, and Homeland Security has ended its “catch and release” program. Detention space has increased, allowing more illegal aliens to be held for deportation, she explained.

Fighting illegal immigration is an uphill battle, she admitted. “There are strong economic incentives for them to cross,” she said. One ‘weapon’ the United States has in the battle now is a stiff fine for employers who hire illegal aliens.

No one aspect of immigration reform stands alone, she said. Border security and interior enforcement, for example, must work together.

Brand said that, on a practical note, the United States — especially agriculture — needs foreign workers. With untold thousands of acres of crops that need to be harvested each season, there aren’t enough U.S. workers who want to fill the jobs, she said.

The president’s proposed Temporary Worker Program would help address all areas of the problem, she indicated. It would get the jobs filled, but the United States would know who was living within its borders. It would have to be truly temporary, she said, with the worker returning to his/her home country at the end of a specified period.

This program would be available to those eligible among the 12 million illegal aliens currently in the United States. It would not, she insisted, be an amnesty program as some have suggested, because there would still be some sanctions for those who had entered the country illegally. To be eligible, the Temporary Workers could not have a criminal record, would have to pay a fine if they’d entered the country illegally, and would have to pay taxes and undergo a background check. In addition, she said, they would not be accelerated past others in waiting for a Green Card.

A final component of immigration reform, integrating immigrants into society, could include a new citizenship exam she said, one that was based more on civics questions than pop culture.

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is now the largest law school in the country. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan, in Lansing, Grand Rapids, and at Oakland University in Rochester. In addition to the J.D. program, students at Cooley can also pursue an LL.M. in Tax or in Intellectual Property. Find out more about Cooley Law School by visiting the Cooley web site at www.cooley.edu.