The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

Fix Legal Immigration First (Sen. Ben Nelson)

by Neb. Dem. Sen. Ben Nelson - 06/28/07 2:13 PM ET

I felt that the problem of illegal immigration exists side by side with the problem of legal immigration. You have to solve the problem with legal immigration, which will give you the visas and give you temporary workers, and solve the problem of securing the border and enforcing border security before you can deal with the 11-12 million people who are here illegally.

So I think it’s a two-step process. You can combine them, but you can’t solve the problem of illegal immigration first, and that’s what this bill seems to do.