As different political voices in Washington D.C. lay out their views for what immigration reform should look like, San Antonio Congressman Lamar Smith described Tuesday his litmus test for viable immigration reform.
Smith is seen an influential vote needed for immigration reform to pass the House. And he says there are three elements that must be included in any proposal.
“First of all we need to secure both our border and our interior,” he said.
Smith points out that almost half of the undocumented immigrants in the county are here with overstayed visas.
The Texas Republican said American workers need to be put first.
“It’s not fair to them to say, 'now suddenly you have to compete with more people,'” he said.
And Smith said any path to legal residency starts at the back of the line behind the throngs of people waiting to immigrate legally.
He said proposals from other lawmakers lack substance and details and Smith accused President Barack Obama of trying to stop immigration reform from happening for political gain.
