Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano calls on Congress to pass immigration reform

Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano delivers remarks on immigration policy at the Center For American Progress (CAP) in Washington, DC on November 13, 2009. Napolitano spoke on efforts to reform legislation on the treatment of illegal immigrants.

Congress is already busy with health care and climate change legislation. But the Obama Administration is pushing lawmakers to tackle another difficult issue: immigration. The White House wants Congress to begin the debate early next year.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Washington think tank she’s hired more border patrol agents, expanded the border fence, and stepped up seizures of guns and money smuggled into Mexico. She says it’s now up to Congress to tighten immigration laws.

"Right now, a corrupt immigration attorney who facilitates hundreds of immigration violations by knowingly helping aliens fraudulently seek asylum or permanent residence is treated almost the same as a single alien who buys a single fake green card.”

Napolitano says drug money is often smuggled using debit cards. But she says that’s not illegal because under current law, debit cards aren’t “monetary instruments.” She says the White House wants an immigration bill that includes tougher enforcement, a streamlined system for legal immigration, and a “tough and fair” path to legal status for the millions of undocumented already in the U.S.