The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005

I voted against the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005" because it fails to provide the nation with true immigration and security reform.

Why?

Instead of providing the guidelines and resources necessary to fix our long-broken immigration system and secure our borders, this bill is essentially devoid of the practical tools our nation needs to fix these problems. It has been over four years since September 11th, and we need real action. It is shameful that the will does not exist to create a bi-partisan, comprehensive approach to immigration and border security, because such a system is long overdue. The safety and security of our nation is too important to play politics.

Before being elected to Congress, I served for 26 ½ years in the United States Border Patrol, including 13 years as sector chief in McAllen and El Paso, Texas. I have years of experience patrolling the tough terrain of the U.S.-Mexico border region, supervising thousands of dedicated Border Patrol agents, and doing everything within our power to strengthen our borders and reduce illegal immigration.

Based on my experience and at the request of the Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi, I drafted and introduced the lead Democratic alternative bill in an effort to create a serious, comprehensive border security and immigration bill. This bill, if approved, would be placed on the calendar of the full House of Representatives for consideration on the floor.

Under this motion, we require DHS to develop a comprehensive border security strategy to establish operational control of all of our borders and ports. Unlike the base bill, we also provide significant increases in personnel and equipment necessary to apprehend, process, and deport illegal immigrants – 12,000 additional Border Patrol agents; 8,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement inspectors; 4,000 additional inspectors at our ports of entry; 1,000 additional U.S. Marshals; 1,000 more detention officers; and 300 additional immigration judges.

Effective control of our borders involves more than proposals for fences or mandatory sentencing. In fact, it's about listening to and understanding the challenges faced by hard-working federal officers in every phase of the process – that includes Border Patrol agents, detention officers, Customs inspectors, U.S. Marshals, immigration judges, and federal prosecutors.

We also provide 100,000 new detention beds to ensure that DHS has the space to detain illegal immigrants, so we can put an end to the absurd policy of "catch and release" once and for all. Furthermore, we instruct DHS to locate and deal with the 110,000 undocumented immigrants who have already been released, so we can deport all those who are deportable.

In short, this motion to recommit would fulfill and even surpass the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.