Senator Isakson was instrumental in drafting and fighting for the inclusion of the “border security first trigger.” There would be no commitment to truly securing the border had Senator Isakson not been at the table for these discussions. It is equally important to note that he was not in every meeting dealing with and was surely not the “lead negotiator” on the overall proposal.

Senator Isakson simply said that this proposal is a good starting point for the debate; he has not said that he supports or will vote for any final bill. The Devil is in the details, and he will review the final product before making a judgment.

Senator Isakson believes in a full debate before a final vote is taken. Today there will be a vote on cloture on a motion to proceed to the bill; it is not a vote on final passage of this bill.

This proposal would result in our borders being secure for the first time in our history.

This proposal contains the Isakson border-security-first trigger exactly as Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia drafted it. It says that no temporary worker program can begin until the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies to the President and to the Congress that specific key border security measures are funded, in place and operational.

The border security measures that must be funded, in place and operational are:

There is no new automatic pathway to citizenship, nor is there a new automatic path to establish permanent residency with a green card.

Illegals must leave the country and must apply for a green card through a U.S. Embassy or Consulate outside the United States, just like everyone else, and they are placed at the back of the line. Everyone who has been waiting patiently on line will be ahead of them.

According to Black’s Law Dictionary, amnesty is the blanket pardon of an offense without penalty. This proposal is not amnesty because illegal workers must complete the following steps in order to obtain a probationary Z visa granting temporary, probationary legal status:

Workers approved for Z visas will be given a temporary probationary legal status, but they will be barred from the full privileges of citizens or Legal Permanent Residents, such as welfare benefits, Social Security benefits, and the ability to sponsor relatives abroad as immigrants.

Workers who obtain Z visas must leave the country when they stop working.

Under this proposal, it will take most Z visa workers at least a decade to be eligible for a green card.

After becoming eligible, Z visa workers must wait in line behind those who applied lawfully, pay penalties, fees, and fines, complete accelerated English requirements, leave the United States and file their application in their home country, and demonstrate merit based on the skills and attributes they will bring to the United States.

The immigration system would be reformed to better balance the importance of family connections with the economic needs of our country by replacing the current system, where nearly two-thirds of green cards are awarded to relatives of U.S. citizens, with a system in which future family immigration will focus on the nuclear family and parents.

A new Parents Visitor visa is created to ensure that parents are allowed to visit their children in the United States regularly and for extended periods of time.

The Diversity Lottery Program, which grants 50,000 green cards per year through random chance, is ended.

These rebalanced green cards are used to clear the Family Backlog in eight years and then applied to the new Merit System for future immigration once the backlog is cleared.

The Proposal establishes a new merit-based system to select future immigrants based on the skills and attributes they will bring to the United States. A merit system is used by many other countries.

Under the merit system, future immigrants applying to enter the United States will be assigned points for skills, education, employment background and other attributes that further our national interest. These skills include:

Z visa workers will pay into the Social Security system, as will their employers. Z visa workers may collect ONLY the share they individually put into the system and ONLY when they leave the United States. Z visa workers are barred from collecting the share of Social Security that employers put into the system on their behalf.

Z visa workers are not entitled to welfare, Food Stamps, SSI, non-emergency Medicaid, or other programs and privileges enjoyed by U.S. citizens and some Legal Permanent Residents.

In order to apply for and maintain Z visa status, workers must remain employed. If they are no longer working, they must leave the United States immediately.

Probationary Z visa applicants must demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history and of the principles and form of government of the United States, as well as be able to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language. They must prove this in a test prior to their first renewal of their probationary Z visa.

The proposal also recognizes that English is the common language of the United States and that the Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the language of the United States of America.

In addition, the DHS Office of Citizenship will be expanded to include coordinating assimilation efforts in its mission, and the Education Secretary will make an English instruction program freely available over the Internet.

Before the Z visa and temporary worker programs go into effect, an Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) must be in place and ready to prevent unauthorized workers from obtaining jobs in the United States.

Employers will be required to verify the work eligibility of all employees using the EEVS, and all workers will be required to present stronger and more readily verifiable identification documents. Tough new anti-fraud measures will be implemented to restrict fraud and identity theft.

Employers who hire illegal workers will face stiff new criminal and civil penalties. For example, the maximum criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of hiring illegals will increase 25-fold, from $3,000 per alien to $75,000 per alien.

To be eligible to apply for a Z visa, illegal immigrants must prove they were in the country prior to January 1, 2007. Those who cannot prove that will be deported immediately.

Anyone caught crossing the border after the new law passes will be fingerprinted and permanently barred from entry to the U.S., creating a strong disincentive to illegal immigration.

Under this proposal, there will be unprecedented information sharing between Federal, State, and local agencies to ensure that immigration laws are respected and enforced.

The new Employment Eligibility Verification System, which employers will be required to use for all employees, will rely on unprecedented information sharing across Federal and State databases, including Social Security records, passport and visa records, and State driver's licenses.

For Z visa applicants, DHS has authority to share information with law enforcement about terrorist aliens, security risks, and criminal aliens, including aliens who lie on their applications and aliens who commit fraud.

Under this proposal, DHS will receive Social Security Administration "no match" information on individuals and information on multiple uses of the same social security number by more than one individual.

Recognizing the diversity of thought in the Senate on this issue, the Senate Republican and Democratic Leadership, as well as the White House, convened a number of working groups to hear different views and ideas on how best to address this problem.

A number of Senators representing different views on this issue participated in formulating a proposal.

The next step is an open debate of this proposal on the Senate floor.

Numerous articles in the press have chronicled the process to develop legislation over the past several months.

During debate of this proposal on the Senate floor, there will be opportunity to offer amendments to change the language of the proposal.

Senator Isakson looks forward to a floor debate in which all members of the Senate have a chance to offer amendments that they think would improve the bill.

With a Democratic-controlled Congress, it is a victory that most of the principles that conservatives have been fighting for are contained in this proposal. Conservatives should see this as the best chance to secure the border and reform our immigration system using conservative principles.

With the political uncertainty of the 2008 presidential election, this is our best shot at securing the border and reforming our immigration system with conservative principles.

Conservatives should not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

For now the bill does not force deportation of the estimated 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants who are here. While this is not ideal, the Democrats are not willing to force deportation, and they are in the majority.

The proposal would force illegals to come forward within 18 months of the bill’s enactment and plead guilty to the crime of entering our country illegally, pay a fine and become proficient in English. If they fail to come forward, or fail to clear a background check, or fail to learn English, or fail to remain employed, or if they commit a second crime, they will be deported and permanently banned from the United States.

Under the current proposal, workers who obtain Z visas would have to leave the country when they stopped working.

However, this proposal is open to amendment in the Senate. When this proposal is debated on the Senate floor, Senator Isakson will work for and support any amendment that would require illegals to have to go home before they may obtain a Z visa.

Conservatives are NOT united in opposing this proposal. Those who have really looked at what the proposal contains realize that it includes most of the principles conservatives have been fighting for.