Homeland Security
Efficient border crossings support good jobs. I strongly support investments into border infrastructure to create jobs, enhance northern border safety, and facilitate legal border crossings for trade and tourism. Over 1 in 3 jobs in Washington state depend on trade, and the U.S. and Canada traded over $1 trillion in goods the last two years alone. Our northern border with Canada is the longest open border in the world. It is vital that our northern border remains safe and efficient. Northern border law enforcement agencies must have the resources required to keep border-related crime out of our communities, and border crossings must be kept safe without impeding trade.
Congress must update our immigration policy by passing common-sense comprehensive immigration reform. I support legal immigration through programs like the EB-5 via program, which allows qualified foreigners to apply for visas if they make major investments to U.S. businesses that create or save at least ten full-time jobs. My goal is to foster U.S. competitiveness through immigration programs that create jobs, not export jobs overseas.
Accomplishments
- Cosponsored and passed the SAFE Ports Act of 2005 to secure our nation’s ports without interrupting trade
- Supported pre-screening of south-bound train passengers from Vancouver, Canada to Whatcom County to facilitate border crossing
- Cosponsored the DREAM Act, which would allow students that have grown up in the U.S. to have an opportunity to contribute to our society by attaining a college education or serving in the military
- Introduced legislation to make the EB-5 visa program permanent, allowing qualified foreigners who make major investments in U.S. businesses that create or save at least ten full-time jobs to seek visas
- Introduced and passed legislation to create an APEC Business travel card, allowing American business men and women will be able to travel more freely to the Asia-Pacific region and expanding opportunities to export American goods to these important markets
- Kept our communities safe by supporting Operation Stonegarden funding for northern border states to help law enforcement agencies coordinate efforts to prevent drug trafficking between the U.S. and Canada
- Support ongoing federal-local coordination in border communities, like Whatcom County’s innovative dispatch system for federal agencies utilize to support local law enforcement
- Support legislation to allow non-married U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for family-based immigration