I oppose granting amnesty to people who have broken the law by entering our country illegally.  Instead, we must stop the flow of illegal immigration, secure our borders, and enforce the laws already on the books

A strong immigration policy starts with effective border control, so the Department of Homeland Security must be given the resources they need to secure our borders. This isn't just an illegal immigration problem, it's a homeland security problem. And Congress must address it. 

We must also ensure employers who hire illegal immigrants are held financially accountable for breaking our laws. However, not all businesses intend to break the law, so I introduced the Legal Employee Verification Act to create a new employment verification system that ensures their workforces are legal.

I also teamed up with Congressman Heath Shuler of North Carolina to introduce the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE Act).  This common sense, bipartisan bill aims to combat illegal immigration by providing the tools and resources to strengthen border security and help local law enforcement enforce existing laws.  The SAVE Act also requires all workers be checked by a mandatory verification system similar to the one I proposed in the Legal Employee Verification Act.

We cannot ignore the nearly 12 million immigrants currently living in the United States illegally.  Illegal immigration undercuts the American middle class, places unsustainable burdens on our social service programs, and poses a significant risk to our national security. We must provide law enforcement with the tools to enforce our immigration laws, improve our identification systems to better track legal immigrants who overstay their welcome, and send a message that we will not reward breaking American laws with amnesty.   

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