Illegal Immigration and Border Control

PREMISE:The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has exploded in the last decade from 3 million to over 12 million. We must secure the border, implement an enforceable employer verification system, punish sanctuary cities and reject amnesty if we are to restore Americans’ faith in the rule of law. Border security and homeland security are inseparable. A core responsibility of the federal government is to control our borders. To do this, we need to build a physical fence and a high-tech fence. We need a larger, better-trained border patrol. We need a tamper-proof biometric ID card for all non-citizens and a single national database to keep track of foreigners entering and exiting our country. If a non-citizen commits a crime they should be deported. Finally, we need to reconnect immigration with Americanization, requiring immigrants to read, write, and speak English. We must end illegal immigration to protect and expand legal immigration.

CHALLENGE: The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has exploded in the last decade from 3 million to over 12 million. The increasing tide of illegal immigration has eroded Americans' faith in the rule of law, put great pressure on our health and education systems, and compromised our national security as our ability to secure our border is questioned around the world. This tide of illegal immigration has made a mockery of our legal immigration system and been fundamentally unfair to those legal immigrants who play by the rules as they wait patiently to pursue the American dream. Sanctuary cities, in particular, attract more illegal immigrants and increase the pressure on federal law enforcement and border control.

PLAN: Advance position from discourage illegal immigration to prevent illegal immigration.

Secure The Border. Follow through on Congressional commitment to build a physical and technological fence along the southern border, and secure other points of entry.

Implement An Enforceable Employer Verification System. Issue a biometrically-enabled and tamperproof card to non-citizens and create a national database for non-citizens so employers can easily verify their legal status in this country.

Reject Amnesty. Do not give amnesty or any special pathway to those who have come to this country illegally.

Punish Sanctuary Cities. Cut back federal funding to cities that are "sanctuaries" or magnets for illegal immigrants and refuse to comply with federal law or aid federal law enforcement.

Improve Interior Enforcement. Provide resources to enforce immigration laws throughout the nation, and crackdown on employers who continue to hire illegals with stiffer fines and penalties.

Encourage Legal Immigration. Streamline the system to recruit and retain skilled workers and welcome the best and the brightest from around the world to our universities.

CONTROL the BORDERS

Bring Order To The Border: Congress authorized the construction of 700 miles of border fence in 2006 and then appropriated over $1.1 billion for border security. However, Washington has only built a few dozen miles of fence. We must commit to building the fence – both physical and high-tech – now, while deploying and maintaining 20,000 Border Patrol agents and measuring their progress toward ending illegal immigration. It is important to accomplish this goal in order to preserve and expand legal immigration.

Implement BorderStat: Use BorderStat to bring accountability to measuring the progress in securing our borders. It will use key indicators to identify both effective enforcement strategies that demonstrate tangible results and areas of the border where we are failing so the failures can be immediately corrected.

IDENTIFY ALL NON-CITIZENS ENTERING AND EXITING AMERICA

Issue A Single, Tamper-Proof Biometric ID Card: We must have a Secure Authorized Foreign Entry Card (SAFE Card) to be uniform for all non-citizen workers and students, utilizing tamper-proof and biometric features for secure identification.

Create A Single National Database Of Foreigners: It is critical to America’s security to have one national database of non-citizens in our country. We must consolidate all existing databases into one so a foreigner’s legal status can be quickly checked.

Identify Those Who Have Left The Country With Biometric Check-out System: Forty-five percent of illegal immigrants in America came into our country legally but overstayed their visas. We need a biometric check-out system so we know who has left America and can focus enforcement on those who remain.

DEPORT CRIMINAL ALIENS

Deport All Illegal Aliens Who Commit A Felony: America currently only deports 14% of the roughly 300,000 foreigners who commit crimes in our country. We must deport all foreign individuals who have abused their privilege of staying in the United States.

AMERICANIZE IMMIGRANTS

Require All Immigrants to Truly Read, Write & Speak English: Immigration and Americanization go hand-in-hand. All immigrants who want to become citizens must truly read, write, and speak English and learn American civics. For the American experiment to succeed, we need a common language.