A former federal immigration official testified Wednesday before an Indiana Senate panel on immigration, and he painted a bleak picture of the U.S. immigration system.
Michael Cutler worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service for 30 years before leaving the agency two decades ago. He's now affiliated with a private think-tank that advocates for limiting all immigration – including legal immigration.
Testifying before the study committee, Cutler warned of what he sees as the dangers posed by illegal immigration.
"We are endangering the entire world because of our immigration policies, because of the way we've politicized the solemn process whereby we confer the highest honor we can upon a foreign national: United States citizenship," Cutler says. "We've certainly cheapened what it is to be a citizen."
Goshen College's Richard Aguirre takes a different view. He says undocumented students should be encouraged to go to Indiana colleges and universities.
"I believe that if they gain legal status, undocumented students will settle permanently in the state and make important contributions to Indiana and its economy," Aguirre says.
The study committee will have one more meeting before deciding whether to make a recommendation to the full General Assembly.