Audio Clip
First Of 'Many' Immigration Reform Hearings Underway
via C-SPAN
Rep. Bob Goodlatte at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration reform.
During the first Congressional hearing on immigration reform, House Republicans looked for a middle ground between “mass deportation” and a “pathway to citizenship.”
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte called it the question of the day.
“Are there options that we should consider between the extremes of mass deportation and a pathway to citizenship," he said.
And the Republican from Virginia pointed it at San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.
“A pathway to citizenship should be the option that Congress selects. I don’t see that as an extreme option," Castro said.
Goodlatte said this was the first of many hearings taking on many immigration issues that need fixing –- including ending chain migration where a family member is able to send for extended family members, the green card lottery system, putting more focus on highly skilled labor while also developing an agriculture guest worker program.
That leaves the question of what to do with the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the nation. So while there’s agreement that America’s immigration system is broken, one disagreement might be which parts get fixed first.