Fact Sheet

MSNBC’s “Dayside” Segment Interview with Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez

HOST: Joining me now is Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. Thank you for joining us.

SEC. GUTIERREZ: Thank you.

HOST: There are a lot of Republicans angry about this bill. Did President Bush expect this kind of a backlash?

SEC. GUTIERREZ: Well, we've known all along that is a controversial issue. What we recognize is that it's not going to go away by ignoring it. We know the American people want us to act. And the President wants to act regardless of the fact that this is a controversial issue. So there's no question about it. In order to tackle this, we're going to have pros and cons and there are going to be people who are against it. But it's not going to go away by ignoring it. The important thing is that we are confronting it and taking action.

HOST: Secretary Gutierrez, a lot of the critics say it is unfair that you have people who broke our laws, they have either come here illegally or they stayed illegally. And that this kind of a bill rewards them for this illegal behavior when so many other people are trying to follow the rules and because of bureaucracy and red tape, they haven't made it yet to the United States to pursue the American dream. How's that fair?

SEC. GUTIERREZ: Well, it's not factual. First of all, these people are not going to get a clear break. They're going to have to pay a fine. They're going to have to get in line. They're going to have to undergo a criminal background check and very importantly, don't have an automatic path to legal residency. The other thing to keep in mind—the clear goal of this bill is national security. And until we know who is in our country, who is working, and who shouldn't be working in our country, we won't have real national security. And that's what this bill will give us. Very important we keep that in mind. It's not amnesty, and we will be more secure as a country. That's why we have to get this done.

HOST: Because you're the Secretary of Commerce let's talk about the money for a minute. By one estimate, this could cost the government $1 billion to implement. You have a lot of critics say and the people who are here are taking jobs away from American citizens. It's not good for American people and for the American economy. How would you respond?

SEC. GUTIERREZ: Well, that's also not factual. Let me just give you a couple of facts to give you an idea of why this is so important economically. If you go back 40, 50 years ago, one-third of our working age population did not have a high school diploma. Today only 6 percent of our working age population doesn't have a high school diploma. Our people have moved on. They're doing other jobs that they wouldn't have done and they're not doing the jobs they would have done 40 years ago. What's happened though is that those jobs haven't gone away. So we need the work force. These undocumented workers when they're allowed to -- if they get legalization and those who do get legalization will not be eligible for welfare, they will not be eligible for food stamps, for Medicaid and they will be paying taxes. So that hasn't been discussed. That's not talked about. A lot of these estimates that are done don't have the impact on the economy. The multiplying effect that this label will have on our economy. So, overall this is a good bill for our country.

HOST: Carlos, Gutierrez. I know you're a busy man, Mr. Secretary, we appreciate your time.

SEC. GUTIERREZ: Thank you.