Archive
Border Security
Regarding the serious problem of illegal immigration in the United States, I, like many of you, am deeply concerned that illegal immigration into the United States has reached all-time highs in recent years, with an estimated ten to fifteen million such illegal aliens currently residing in our country. Some illegal immigrants engage in further criminal conduct, such as drug trafficking and gang violence. Further, in the post September 11 world, our glaring illegal immigration problem is even more alarming, because international terrorists seeking to harm America have and will continue to try to take advantage of our immigration system and porous borders to gain access to our nation. Indeed, a recent report found that, of the 94 known foreign-born terrorists who operated in the United States between 1993 and 2004, two-thirds of them abused or manipulated our immigration system.
Illegal immigration also places an enormous financial burden on the American taxpayer. According to a recent study, illegal immigration in California alone costs taxpayers over $10 billion each year, highlighting the urgent need to crack down on this lawlessness. Illegal immigrants often receive costly government services, chiefly education and medical care. As such, the costs of illegal immigration alone should compel our government to create a new strategy to address this growing crisis.
I recently visited the California border near San Diego to gain a firsthand look at the state of our border security. I found the vast majority of our Border Patrol agents to be dedicated and capable, but they simply do not have enough manpower to control the entire 2000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico. I also witnessed the ingenuity of would-be illegal immigrants, who can easily use ladders to scale simple fences and have even built tunnels under the border. Today, a state of emergency exists along our nation's borders. We need more Border Patrol agents, more fencing and physical infrastructure, and more technology, and we need to make border security a priority.
Fortunately, in the last couple of years, Congress has begun to take some long-overdue action to regain control over the borders. I strongly supported the REAL ID Act, which became law in May 2005. The REAL ID Act requires states to obtain proof of legal presence before issuing a drivers' license, ensuring that illegal immigrants cannot obtain official identification cards. In September 2006, Congress, again with my support, passed the Secure Fence Act, which requires construction of 700 additional miles of double fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border and authorizes a "virtual fence" consisting of cameras, sensors, and other high-tech devices to detect and deter illegal border crossings. President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act into law on October 26. Also in September 2006, Congress passed an appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security containing $1.2 billion for the fence and over $2.7 billion to expand the Border Patrol, as well as making it a federal crime to construct a tunnel under the border.
While these new laws represent important steps toward improving border security, more needs to be done. I've supported legislation to require the immediate deportation of illegal aliens involved in criminal activity, including gang members; ensure that state and local law enforcement officers have the authority to identify and arrest illegal immigrants; repeal the irrational "visa lottery" program, which randomly awards visas to individuals from countries that are national security threats; end the "catch and release" policy; and increase criminal penalties for immigration-related document fraud and human smuggling. All of these common-sense measures have passed the House of Representatives, but have so far been blocked by the Senate.
The Senate has approved a broad immigration bill that, in addition to border security provisions, would create a guest-worker program and allow illegal immigrants currently living in the United States to be placed on a path to citizenship. I believe we do need a reasonable, closely-monitored temporary worker program so that our farmers can have access to a legal workforce for their seasonal labor needs, along the lines of the Bracero Program that we had until the 1960s. However, I firmly oppose blanket amnesties that allow illegal immigrants to go unpunished and grant them permanent legal residence or citizenship. That approach was tried in 1986, and it undermined the rule of law and encouraged more illegal immigration. While there may be differences of opinion on how strongly illegal immigrants should be punished, Congress needs to make it clear that illegal immigration brings tough consequences. The Senate immigration bill, by contrast, would allow illegal immigrants to collect Social Security benefits for work they have done here illegally. I believe the Senate proposal too closely resembles the failed 1986 approach, and would strongly oppose that bill in its present form.
In conjunction with securing our borders and bringing to justice illegal immigrants currently in our nation, it is also important to recognize that one way to reduce illegal immigration in the long run is to foster economic stability and prosperity in countries from which these individuals migrate. Many illegal immigrants abandon their homeland because they and their families are deeply impoverished, and seek economic gain by coming to our country. As such, I strongly believe that free and fair trade agreements, such as the recently ratified Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), are critical to revitalizing economic growth in countries to our south, thereby reducing the incentive for the people of these nations to unlawfully seek financial gain in the United States.
