Dreier Expresses Support for Border Security Legislation

December 8, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, expressed support today for border security legislation proposed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY). Dreier is a co-sponsor of the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, H.R. 4437, which is being considered by the Judiciary Committee today and is expected on the House floor next week.

"The legislation being considered in the Judiciary Committee today is an important step in our effort to better secure our borders," Dreier said. "It allocates critical resources and increases coordination of local and federal officials on the border to better confront the problem there. It also strengthens workplace enforcement requirements, something I have been advocating as critical to effectively combating illegal immigration. I look forward to supporting this bill on the floor next week and to continuing the debate on reforming our entire immigration system."

The legislation institutes an employment eligibility verification system in which employers will check Social Security numbers and alien identification numbers provided by employees against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records in order to weed out fraudulent numbers and ensure that their employees are not working in the U.S. illegally. It also makes mandatory a voluntary pilot program already in place to check a potential employee’s legal eligibility and increases civil and criminal penalties for knowingly hiring or employing an illegal worker.

These provisions closely mirror the goals of H.R. 98, the Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act, which Dreier introduced this year. The legislation, also known as the Bonner Plan, aims to enhance border security by introducing updated identity technology to the Social Security card system and providing additional resources to the DHS to enforce compliance of laws regulating the hiring of illegal aliens. H.R. 4437 calls for further study of how to make the Social Security card more counterfeit proof.

Additionally, the legislation includes: an authorization for 1,000 new, full-time port of entry inspectors over the next four years; a reauthorization of the addition of 8,000 new border agents and 32,000 new detention beds over the next four years; the establishment of physical barriers and the incorporation of widespread, state-of -the-art surveillance technology to ensure 100 percent coverage of our borders; the elimination of the "Catch and Release" practice; an increase in penalties for alien smuggling; a crackdown on alien gang members; and increased cooperation between Border Sheriffs and Federal law enforcement.