IMMIGRATION REFORM
-A system in crisis-


Though some wish to use the immigration debate to polarize the American public or who only look at the issue in black or white, those of us who are willing to take a hard look at all aspects of the debate are working toward meaningful, comprehensive reform. The time is right and it can be done.

To date, exploitation by the extremes has made immigration reform politically unpalatable for too many in Congress. Likewise, sincere concerns about such issues as competition by immigrants -- legal and illegal alike -- for American jobs, or how to appropriately penalize those who have broken the law, have made it really tough to find workable solutions.

But we’re getting there.

We have fleshed out the options.   But we need more clarity now.  When illegal aliens are busted by a state or local cop the choice is to prosecute and jail or release.  The federal government needs to identify dangerous criminals in the immigrant system and take responsibility for removing them. Period.  No excuses.  These are the leaches that prey on their own ethnic groups and, ultimately, all of the rest of us. 

Among illegal communities, the rate of criminality is much higher than society as a whole.  We need to bring good folks out of the shadows and throw the bad ones into jail and out of the country.

But the answer cannot be massive violations of the civil liberties of Americans as armed federal police check identity papers in a door-to-door search.  We can’t round up millions of people and deport them.  We have neither the manpower nor the money for such a misguided endeavor.

In December of 2005, the House passed, with my support, an “enforcement only” bill while the Senate has been debating their version of the legislation. However, it is probable that the other side’s version will differ significantly and will require further negotiation with the House.

The challenge to come is how to combine the best ideas in this debate under a single banner.  That will not be easy, but it must be done and now is the time. Let’s be orderly about the problem without creating the kind of statist police force that couldn’t solve the problem anyway.

Below is a list of actions and legislation--all of which I voted in favor of and supported--that will give you a small glimpse into the history of this debate.

H.R. 4437- The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005
This bill, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 239 to 182, establishes enhanced border patrol operations with state of the art technology, ends the catch and release practice along the southwest border, streamlines operations within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security border security agencies, and provides employers with tools to quickly verify the legal work authorization of a potential employee.

H.R. 4437 also includes language I authored preventing the mandatory construction of day labor facilities by private businesses. An increasing number of local governmental entities are requiring businesses to build structures at or near their private property to house day laborers, while they wait for employment opportunities. My amendment would prohibit local governments from these requirements – which usually include providing security and janitorial services.

Immigration Advisory Board
In January, I formed an Immigration Advisory Committee comprised of a group of concerned Utahns who met weekly to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. After several months of discussion and exploration of the issue, a recommendation from the Committee was originated and can be found by clicking on the link below.
Press Release: Cannon Immigration Advisory Committee Releases Final Report

H.R. 418- REAL ID Act of 2005
Though this legislation did contain many flaws, it did close asylum loopholes that had bothered me for some time. The 9-11 Commission’s staff report found that “a number of terrorists…abused the asylum system.” The 9 th Circuit Court has severely undermined current authorities by limiting the factors that judges can consider when assessing the credibility of an alien seeking asylum. This impairment encourages asylum fraud.

The bill strengthens judges’ ability to determine whether the asylum seeker is truthful. This provision codifies the factors immigration judges use to assess credibility and prevents further undermining our national security.

Foreign Student and Exchange Visitor Tracking
I played a role in supporting and developing border security programs that close the gap in monitoring foreign students and exchange visitors by requiring Immigration, in consultation with the Department of State, to develop an electronic means to monitor and verify visa issuance, admission to the United States, and enrollment and registration at the institution. This provision specifically concerns F visas for students, M visas for vocational students, and J visas for exchange visitors. Schools and J-programs would also be required to report within 30 days if a student or exchange visitor failed to report to the school or program.

This program was the first step in plans to track the movements of all those with temporary visas. It requires schools to wager their federal money while they use the new SEVIS Program to monitor the activity of the student. This system was made mandatory in January 2003.

Schools now are required to go through and extensive screening process which forces them to prove they have the programs and policies in place to provide the education that a foreign student has applied to receive. If the student disappears or drops out of school, they become deportable immediately and will be tracked down by enforcement.

H.R. 1731- The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (2003)
This Act amends the federal criminal code to establish penalties for aggravated identity theft including using false documents for immigration purposes. The action stiffens the penalties for knowingly possessing a means of identification. Additionally, any individual that is caught using the ID to gain access to Social Security and/or Medicare faces a much stronger penalty than previously legislated.

H.R. 3525- Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002
In 2002 I helped pass HR 3525, which requires the State Department to incorporate a biometric in every U.S. visa issued after October 26, 2004. This is to say that all visa-adjudicating posts abroad will have fingerprint-scanning equipment installed before the October deadline. Every visa that is subsequently issued abroad will go through a more secure process allowing a clearer and more accurate identification of the foreign national.

More specifically, this Act’s sole purpose is to help our country be more effective at controlling our borders. It authorizes 400 additional inspectors, investigators, and other staff on the legacy-INS over the next five years. It makes it easier for Immigration and other federal agencies to get more exact information about people and products that come into America. It requires every foreign visitor desiring entrance into the United States to carry a travel document containing biometric identification -- that would be fingerprints and facial recognition -- that will enable security to use technology to better deny fraudulent entry into America.

H.R. 4489- The Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management Improvement Act (2000)
When HR 4489 passed, it amended current law regarding the entry and exit of foreign nationals. It mandates that information be collected on every entering and exiting foreign national and that this information be an integrated entry and exit data system using available data. This makes information more accessible to officers on the border and inside the U.S. for easy identification.

H.R. 5299- The Internet False Identification Prevention Act (2000)
This Act deals with those that produce false identification and redistributes the actual document and/or the mechanisms to create such documents.

Legislation Authorizing Military Assistance on the Borders
My following votes authorize the Secretary of Defense to assign members of the Armed Forces -- under certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions -- to assist the Bureau of Border Security and U.S. Customs Service on preventing the entry of terrorists, drug traffickers, and illegal aliens into the United States.

108th Congress – H.R. 1588

107th Congress H.R. 2586 and H.R. 4546

106th Congress – H.R. 1401 and H.R. 4205