'Well-thought-out' guest worker program urged
"There's nothing else out there like this that lays out the issues," Cannon said Monday in a telephone interview.
The Republican House representative said House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, has already expressed an interest in the April 25 report, which Cannon requested to help him gather information on immigration issues.
Some of the volunteer committee's recommendations in the report include having fully secure borders, visa reform and existing laws that are "vigorously" enforced.
In the section on border security, the committee called for construction of a "virtual fence" and use of "unmanned aerial vehicles, cameras, poles and sensors." The group also supports a review of where actual physical barriers, fences or walls could be built along the border.
"That section of the report is very good," Cannon said about border security.
But in the section that lays out recommendations for a guest worker program, Cannon said there is some flexibility in his mind. He likes the idea of a "natural cap," which means a guest worker could enter the country only if there is a job and a sponsoring employer.
In the report's final section, the committee calls for Congress to move Mexico's economic issues toward the top of its agenda.
"Illegal immigration will not be completely resolved, however, until Mexico and Latin America are economically empowered to care for their own citizens," the committee's 31-page report concludes.
Cannon's committee first met in January 2006 and had former state legislator Matt Throckmorton as its chairman.
The 19-member committee included immigration attorneys and groups like Dairy Farmers of Utah, Associated Builders and Contractors, and Intermountain Health Care.
Cannon spokesman Charles Isom noted the committee was an attempt at "intelligent discussion" on immigration rather than jumping to "bumper-sticker" solutions that call for closed borders.
"There may be some areas, primarily in densely populated regions, where walls and fences make sense," the committee stated in its report.
However, closing the borders to foreign workers, the committee said, will only lead to people bypassing the "system" and allow for continued illegal immigration.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com
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