Immigration & Reform

America was established by immigrants and has always been a nation of immigrants. Over the years, millions of people have come here in the hope that in America, you can make it if you try. Each successive wave of immigrants has contributed to our country's rich culture, economy and spirit. Like the immigrants that came before them, today's immigrants will shape their own destinies while enriching our country.

Nonetheless, our current immigration system and policies has been broken for far too long. We need comprehensive immigration reform, not just piecemeal effort and approach. We can no longer continue to allow people to enter the United States undetected, undocumented, and unchecked.  

The American people are a welcoming and generous people, but those who enter our country's borders illegally, and those who employ them, are violating the law. We must secure our borders by first enforcing our existing immigration laws for which there are many. We need to put a cap on the number of immigrants we allow to enter and apply for citizenship. We need improved reporting procedures for immigrants. We need additional personnel, infrastructure, and technology on the border and at our ports of entry. We need additional Customs and Border Protection agents equipped with better technology and real-time intelligence. By enforcing our existing laws and re-enforcing our borders and points of entry we can begin to minimize human smuggling organizations and the crime associated with this trade. We further need to crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. It will continue to be a problem when we only enforce our laws against the immigrants themselves. We must put into place an accurate method or system for employers to verify whether their employees are legally eligible to work in the United States that is fair to legal workers, safeguards people's privacy, and is not used to discriminate against legal citizens and workers.

For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must require them to come out of the shadows and get right with the law. We support a system that requires undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, pay taxes, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens. They are our neighbors, and we can help them become full tax-paying, law-abiding, productive members of society