Senator proposes tough laws on illegal immigration
Day, R-Owatonna, announced at the Owatonna Arts Center that if he is elected to Congress the first bill he will propose will be on immigration reform. Day announced his campaign to represent the First Congressional District in March and is facing Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minnesota, as well as three other Republicans.
Day said illegal immigration is one of the subjects he hears people talk about the most while traveling throughout the district and campaigning .
"I'm involved because Americans are fed up with people disregarding our laws, and our leaders seem to look the other way," said Day.
The first part of Day's plan is to secure the borders using surveillance cameras. The second part of his plan involves immigrant identification. To track who is entering the United States better, Day said anyone entering the country should have a biometric card. Biometric cards hold digital records such as a person's address, date of birth and country of origin.
The former senate majority leader referenced a report prepared by the Minnesota Department of Administration in 2005 which estimated that there are 80,000 - 85,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota. The report stated that illegal immigrants cost the state $144 - $188 million through spending on education, health care and incarceration.
"It is dead wrong for American elected officials to tolerate and encourage this kind of mass law-breaking," Day said.
The third part of Day's plan is to crack down on what he called "sanctuary cities," cities that are a haven for illegal residents. Minneapolis is one of those cities, according to Day.
The senator would like to see the federal government withhold aid to any U.S. cities that harbor illegal immigrants through official policies, such as not allowing city employees to enforce immigration laws.
The fourth part of Day's plan is to establish a temporary worker program. Under Day's proposal foreigners would have to apply for work from outside the United States, pass a background check and abide by state and federal laws.
If some members of a family are legal residents and others are in the country illegally Day said the non-legal resident should get a biometric card and become a citizen.
"We're trying to do this in a very compassionate way, but at the same time we're not trying to have any people on the fringes," Day said.
As for the cost to implement his proposals, Day said it would be balanced out by the cost the country is already incurring through education, health care and incarceration for illegal immigrants.
