Border Security

We will never win the war on terror until we secure our borders. Lawlessness breeds lawlessness, and this lack of enforcement is allowing illegal aliens and potential terrorists to enter our country.

• I am fundamentally opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants.
  
  
• Our nation was built by immigrants, and we need legal immigrants who are willing to become Americans, learn English, and become productive citizens.
  
  
• Congress should pass an enforcement first immigration policy that brings law and order to the border before debating a temporary work program that will require illegal immigrants to return home before they can legally apply for a visa.
  
  
• I am helping to expand a successful zero tolerance program that is deterring border crossings and dramatically reducing illegal immigration. Under this strict enforcement policy, every illegal alien caught crossing the border is arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for up to six months. I recently helped expand this program to the Laredo Border Patrol Sector and I will not rest until zero tolerance is in effect from Brownsville to San Diego.
  
  
• Using my position on the Appropriations Committee, I personally obtained an additional $80 million in funding to help secure America’s borders in 2008. These funds will provide border law enforcement officers with additional resources and help expand a strict, zero tolerance policy towards illegal aliens.
  
  
• I am working on a bill to send $150 million to border county sheriffs and other law enforcement officials along the southern border, while also giving them the authority they need to identify, arrest, and detain illegal aliens at federal expense.
  
  
• Cities such as Houston that have adopted “sanctuary policies” (policies that prevent local law enforcement officers from asking individuals they arrest, detain, or stop whether they are in the county legally) are violating federal law and encouraging illegal immigration. I am working to reverse this policy in Houston and other cities around the country.
  
  
• Employers should be required to verify the legal status of all employees using a national database. This requirement will reduce the incentive for illegal immigration and provide employers with the information they need to hire legal, documented workers.
  
  
• Dangerous criminal gangs such as MS-13 and the Zetas exploit our relatively open borders to smuggle drugs and individuals into the U.S.
  
  
• I have confirmed with the FBI Director that Middle Easterners are crossing our southern border and adopting Hispanic names and identities.

PRESS RELEASES
Culberson Speaks Out Against Merida Initiative , 06/11/08
Congressman Culberson Opposes Funding Allocated to Mexico , 05/19/08
Drug Smuggler in Ramos and Compean Case Pleads Guilty, 04/18/08
Border Security Update, 12/29/07
Zero Tolerance Reducing Illegal Crossings in Laredo, 12/21/07
Great News on Securing the Border, 12/20/07
Culberson Personally Obtains Funding to Secure the Border, 12/19/07
Government Overreacted in Prosecution of Border Agents, 12/03/07
Good News on Completing the Katy Freeway and Securing Our Border, 11/29/07
Information on Zero Tolerance, 10/30/07
Culberson Recognized for Expanding Zero Tolerance Towards Illegal Aliens, 10/26/07
Press Conference to Announce Expansion of Zero Tolerance, 10/22/07
Culberson Awarded Champion of Border Security, 9/30/07
Culberson Helping to Secure the Border, 8/31/07
Culberson Urges Fiscal Restraint, 8/01/07
Culberson Supports Amendment to Free Border Patrol Agents, 7/25/07
Culberson Working to Free Unjustly Inprisoned Border Patrol Agents, 7/20/07
Zero Tolerance Program Dramatically Reducing Illegal Immigration, 7/13/07
Border Law Enforcement Act, 6/15/07
Congressman Culberson Statement on Agents Ramos and Compean, 2/7/07
Culberson Statement on Border Patrol Agents, 1/17/07
Proposed Totalization Agreement with Mexico, 1/5/07

SPONSORED / COSPONSORED LEGISLATION IN THE 110th CONGRESS
H.Con.Res. 267 - Calling on the President to commute the sentences of United States Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean to time served
H.Con.Res. 277 - Rejecting and condemning the Equal Opportunity Commission’s position that English-only employment rules violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as unjustified and unsupported by law, and for other purposes
H.Res. 18 - Expressing disapproval by the House of Representatives of the totalization agreement between the United States and Mexico signed by the Commissioner of Social Security and the Director General of the Mexican Social Security Institute on June 29, 2004
H.Res. 499 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Administration should rigorously enforce the laws of the United States to substantially reduce illegal immigration and greatly improve border security
H.Res. 622 - Providing for the correction of events of August 2, 2007
H.R. 138 - Employment Eligibility Verification and Anti-Identity Theft Act
H.R. 332 - Top amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide that wages earned, and sel-employment income derived, by individuals while such individuals were not citizens or nationals of the United States and were illegally in the United States shall not be credited for coverage under the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance program under such title
H.R. 480 - To amend the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit issuance of residential mortgages to any individual who lacks a Social Security account number
H.R. 768 - To provide that Executive Order 13166 shall have no force or effect, and to prohibit the use of funds for certain purposes
H.R. 769 - National Language Act of 2007
H.R. 939 - To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Defense to assign members of the regular or reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, under certain circumstance and subject to certain conditions, to assist the Department of Homeland Security in the performance of border protection functions
H.R. 997 - English Language Unity Act of 2007
H.R. 1314 - Photo Identification Security Act
H.R. 1756 - NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007
H.R. 1914 - Terrorist Death Penalty Act of 2007
H.R. 1940 - Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007
H.R. 2542 - Border Law Enforcement Act
H.R. 2954 - Security Border FIRST (For Integrity, Reform, Safety, and Anti-Terrorism) Act of 2007
H.R. 3494 - Charlie Norwood CLEAR Act of 2007
H.R. 4088 - SAVE Act of 2007
H.R. 4176 - To enhance national security by restricting access of illegal aliens to driver’s license and State-issued identification documents
H.R. 4464 - Common Sense English Act