Immigration

As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I put the issue of illegal immigration on the national agenda in 2005 with the introduction of the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, which passed the House of Representatives.  The legislation aimed to secure our nation’s borders, crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants and increase the penalties against people who smuggle in illegal immigrants.  Since the introduction of that bill, I have continued to play a leading role in the illegal immigration debate, and remain dedicated to substantive immigration reform.  I believe we must eliminate the job magnet that brings illegal immigrants into our country and hold those here illegally accountable for their actions.  I supported the creation of an employer verification system to help American employers ensure that they are hiring a legal workforce.  Since enacted, the program has worked well—more than 69,000 employers nationwide now participate. Most importantly, we must not provide amnesty for illegal immigrants, which would encourage future illegal immigration by retroactively rewarding illegal behavior and allowing those who have broken the law to receive billions in public benefits.  This would encumber our current welfare system at every level of government, increase taxes for all Americans, and raid the Social Security trust fund of billions of dollars needed to pay for the retirement of U.S. citizens.