GROUPS, LAWYERS, ADVOCATES. SO THE COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW, WHAT
THEY CAN DO IS PREPARE, SO THAT
AS SOON AS THE LEGAL PROCESS HAS
WORKED ITSELF THROUGH, WE CAN GO
FORWARD.
FORWARD. >> I WANT TO INTRODUCE YOU TO
LAWRENCE GILLS, A STUDENT HERE
AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITY.
UNIVERSITY. BORN IN HAITI.
GOOD AFTERNOON.
GOOD AFTERNOON. >> HELLO, MR. PRESIDENT.
MY NAME IS BORIS GILLS.
I'M AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT.
I CAME FROM HAITI.
IN 2011 I CAME HERE ON A STUDENT
VISA.
VISA. NOW I'M A SENIOR.
I'M GRADUATING NEXT SEMESTER
WITH A DOUBLE MAJOR IN FINANCE
AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS.
LIKE SO MANY OF US INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO
DO.
DO. OUR BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL.
WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING BY THE
BOOKS.
BOOKS. BUT YET, IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE
LEFT OUT OF EVERY SINGLE THING.
SO NOW MY QUESTION IS, WHAT IS
IT THAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP US
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS?
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS? HOW CAN YOU INCLUDE US IN YOUR
EXECUTIVE ORDERS?
EXECUTIVE ORDERS? >> WELL, LET ME JUST SAY THIS --
[ APPLAUSE ]
>> YOU KNOW, IT'S WONDERFUL TO
SEE PEOPLE -- YOUNG PEOPLE'S
TALENTS FROM ALL ACROSS THE
GLOBE COMING TO STUDY IN THE
UNITED STATES.
UNITED STATES. AND I WANT TO CONGRATULATE
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL FOR THE
DIVERSITY OF ITS CLASS, AND THE
GREAT WORK THAT IT'S DOING.
AND WE WOULD LOVE MORE WILLING,
WELL-EDUCATED, AMBITIOUS YOUNG
PEOPLE TO WANT TO STAY HERE, AND
CONTRIBUTE TO THIS COUNTRY.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF
THE FOUNDERS OF INTEL AND GOOGLE
AND SO MANY OF OUR ICONIC
COMPANIES, PEOPLE LIKE ALBERT
EINSTEIN, ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL,
THEY WERE IMMIGRANTS.
AND ONE OF THE MISTAKES THAT
WE'RE MAKING RIGHT NOW IS WE'RE
TRAINING A LOT OF THE INCREDIBLY
TALENTED YOUNG PEOPLE, THEY'RE
GOING TO OUR UNIVERSITIES,
GETTING ADVANCED DEGREES, AND
THEN WE'RE SENDING THEM BACK
RIGHT AWAY, EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY
WANT TO STAY AND START
BUSINESSES HERE AND CONTRIBUTE
TO THE -- TO OUR COMMUNITY.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE TALKED
ABOUT IN THE COMPREHENSIVE
IMMIGRATION BILL WAS, HOW CAN WE
PROVIDE GREATER INCENTIVES AND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
WITH GREAT TALENT, AND HIGHER
DEGREES, TO BE ABLE TO STAY,
PARTICULARLY IN AREAS LIKE MATH,
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WHERE WE
KNOW RIGHT NOW, WE DON'T HAVE
ENOUGH ENGINEERS.
ENOUGH ENGINEERS. WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH COMPUTER
SCIENTISTS.
SCIENTISTS. BUT THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT
WE CAN DO AGGRESSIVELY THROUGH
EXECUTIVE ACTIONS.
EXECUTIVE ACTIONS. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S GOING TO
REQUIRE LEGISLATION FOR US TO
DO.
DO. AND FRANKLY, THERE'S GOING TO
BE -- I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR.
THERE ARE A LOT OF FOREIGN
STUDENTS WHO COME HERE TO STUDY.
THE FACT THAT THEY COME HERE TO
STUDY DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY
QUALIFY THEM FOR LEGAL RESIDE E
RESIDENCE, OR U.S. CITIZENSHIP.
AND I DON'T FORESEE A
CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE SUDDENLY
ANYBODY WHO IS GOING TO COLLEGE
HERE AUTOMATICALLY IS QUALIFIED
FOR LEGAL RESIDENCE.
THERE WILL BE CRITERIA IN TERMS
OF WHO IT IS THAT IS ABLE TO
APPLY, GET LEGAL RESIDENCE, GET
A WORK PERMIT AND MAYBE
ULTIMATELY GO THROUGH
CITIZENSHIP.
CITIZENSHIP. BUT THAT'S GOING TO BE THROUGH A
LEGAL PROCESS OF LEGAL
IMMIGRATION.
IMMIGRATION. THAT'S NOT GOING TO BE ONE THAT
IS RESOLVED WITH RESPECT TO
SOMEBODY WHO'S BEEN
UNDOCUMENTED.
UNDOCUMENTED. THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT
CIRCUMSTANCES.
CIRCUMSTANCES. AND PART OF WHAT WE CAN DO
THROUGH THE COMPREHENSIVE
IMMIGRATION BILL IS SPEED UP OUR
LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM.
A LOT OF PEOPLE END UP BEING
FORCED THROUGH THE UNDOCUMENTED
POOL, BECAUSE THE LEGAL PROCESS
IS SO BOGGED DOWN, SO
BUREAUCRATIC, SO SLOW,
OFTENTIMES THE ALLOCATIONS OF
QUOTAS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
ARE -- DON'T REFLECT THE MODERN
WORLD.
WORLD. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THE SENATE
DID IS CHANGE THAT IN A SMART
WAY AND IT WOULD HAVE SPEEDED
THINGS UP.
THINGS UP. THAT'S WHY WE STILL HAVE TO GET
THIS BILL PASSED.
AND WE'RE STILL GOING TO HAVE TO
PUT PRESSURE ON THEM.
>> THE QUESTION TO EXTRAPOLATE
HIS QUESTION, IS SOME PEOPLE
WONDER, ARE YOU FOCUSING MOSTLY
ON THE UNDOCUMENTED POPULATION,
AND THROUGH EXECUTIVE ORDERS
COULD YOU NOT ALSO INCLUDE THOSE
THAT ARE HERE, THAT ARE
PARTICIPATING ALREADY.
PARTICIPATING ALREADY. FOLKS THAT CAME FROM HAITI,
HORRIBLE EARTHQUAKE THAT HIT
FIVE YEARS AGO, ARE YOU FOCUSED
AT ALL ON THAT?
>> WE ARE.
>> THE QUESTION IS, CAN'T YOU
INCLUDE THEM AS WELL, STREAMLINE
THEM?
THEM? [ APPLAUSE ]
>> HERE'S THE THING.
I WAS ALWAYS VERY CLEAR ABOUT
THIS EVEN WHEN I MADE THE FIRST
ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE EXECUTIVE
ACTIONS.
ACTIONS. THE REASON I'M CONFIDENT ABOUT
OUR LEGAL POSITION IN WHAT WE
DID WITH DACA, WHICH WAS ALREADY
IN PLACE, SINCE 2012, WHAT WE'RE
NOW PROPOSING IN TERMS OF
EXPANDING DACA AND ALSO FOR THE
PARENTS OF THOSE WHO QUALIFY FOR
DACA, THE REASON I'M CONFIDENT
IS THAT WE COULD TAKE THOSE
STEPS UNDER MY PURS OF
PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION.
PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION. IF IN FACT WE WERE COMPLETELY
REWRITING THE IMMIGRATION LAWS,
THEN ACTUALLY THE OTHER SIDE
WOULD HAVE A CASE, BECAUSE WE
CAN'T VIOLATE STATUTES.
WE CAN'T VIOLATE LAWS THAT ARE
ALREADY IN PLACE.
WHAT WE CAN DO IS MAKE CHOICES
TO IMPLEMENT THOSE LAWS.
THAT'S WHAT WE'VE DONE WITH
DACA, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE
PROPOSED WITH THE EXPANSION OF
DACA AND DAPA.
IN ORDER FOR US TO DO MOST OF
THE WORK THAT BORIS REFERS TO,
IN TERMS OF EXPANDING
OPPORTUNITIES, FOR EXAMPLE, TO
SAY TO ANY YOUNG PERSON WHO'S
GOT AN ADVANCED DEGREE IN MATH
AND SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING,
WHICH WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO
NEED EVEN AS WE TRY TO GET MORE
AND MORE YOUNG AMERICANS TO GO
INTO THOSE FIELDS, IN