New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's office today issued a release of the mayor's prepared testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's field hearing on federal immigration legislation.

"Today, we remain a nation of immigrants," said Bloomberg. "People from around the world continue to come here seeking opportunity, and they continue to make America the most dynamic nation in the world. But it's clear we also have a problem on our hands -- our immigration laws are fundamentally broken.

"It's as if we expect border control agents to do what a century of communism could not," continued Bloomberg, "defeat the natural market forces of supply and demand and defeat the natural human desire for freedom and opportunity. You might as well sit in your beach chair and tell the tide not to come in."

He went on to say the New York City is home to more than 3 million immigrants, with half a million coming illegally. "And let's be honest: they arrive for a good reason -- they want a better life for themselves and their families, and our businesses need them and hire them!

"Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders or overstaying their visas -- and our businesses broke the law by employing them -- our city's economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. The same holds true for the nation.

"We absolutely must have a federal database, said Bloomberg, "that will allow employers to verify the status of all job applicants. But for this database to have any value, we must also ensure that the documentation job applicants present is incorruptible. That means we need to create a biometric employment card containing unique information -- fingerprints or DNA, for instance."

Bloomberg continued, saying that job seekers would be required to have such a card, as relying on Social Security cards is "way behind the times."

The mayor's complete testimony is online.
KW