Washington, Oct 17, 2007 -  U.S. Congressman John Carter (TX-31) today introduced H.R. 3851, the Non-Citizen Enforcement Act. This bill is the firstin a series of four bills collectively titled the Secure America For Everyone (SAFE) Initiative aimed to address the most critical aspects of immigration reform including enforcement, identification, a non-citizen worker program, and concluding with an overhaul of the current immigration process.

“America is a nation of laws, and those laws must be obeyed and enforced,” Congressman Carter said. “Congress has tried time and time again to enact immigration reform. Unfortunately, the legislation that has been put forth in the past has been too comprehensive and complicated to actually implement and enforce. The focus should be on three principles-enforce the law, provide legal workers to U.S. employers, while also putting the technology in place to address true reform in a compassionate way.”

“This week I am proud to introduce the Secure America for Everyone Initiative. This initiative is a path for realistic immigration reform consisting of four straight-forward bills that will ultimately lead to a practical immigration process that makes it easier to come into this country legally and harder to come illegally,” Carter continued.

The first step in the SAFE Initiative is the Non-Citizen Enforcement Act, which requires that the Department of Homeland Security add an additional 2,000 border patrol agents every year until the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies that the borders have been successfully secured. The Non-Citizen Enforcement Act requires state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce the current immigration laws. The bill also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to post all warrants for absconding illegal aliens on the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). In addition, the bill makes it a criminal offense rather than a civil misdemeanor to be in the United States illegally. The bill requires that the federal government provide reimbursements to state and local law enforcement agencies for costs associated with immigration enforcement by increasing State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) funding from $460 million to $1.5 billion. This bill will also increase maximum sentences for criminal aliens, among other things.

“We have a crisis on the Texas border: Up to one thousand illegal immigrants are crossing the U.S./Mexico border every night,” Congressman Carter said. “I have been a strong advocate for an ‘enforcement first’ approach, and this bill addresses the first concern –securing our borders and enforcing the current laws already on the books.”