Immigration

America is a nation of immigrants.  But it is also a nation of laws…

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

--Theodore Roosevelt, 1907

Rep. Frelinghuysen believes that our nation's immigration laws need to be thoroughly reviewed and extensively changed.  However, first and foremost, we need to enforce our existing immigration laws and take all necessary steps to secure our borders.

Since Congressman Frelinghuysen’s earliest days in Congress, he has been active in the effort to secure our borders. Back then, he voted for the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-208) to reduce the number of legal immigrants admitted and to increase sanctions against those who enter our country illegally.  He also voted to end welfare and food stamp benefits for non-citizens (P.L. 104-193).

Regrettably, it took the horrific events of September 11 to draw the nation’s attention to the glaring shortcomings in our immigration enforcement system.  Since that time, however, Congressman Frelinghuysen has strongly supported several pieces of important legislation: the USA-Patriot Act, the Real ID Act, the Border Security Act, the VISA Reform Act, and INS overhaul.

Most recently, with Congressman Frelinghuysen’s support, the House of Representatives took steps to reform our immigration laws by passing the following bills:
• H.R. 6094, the Community Protection Act, will make it easier for the Department of Homeland Security to detain and then deport illegal immigrant felons;
• H.R. 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act, gives law enforcement officers the authority to apprehend any illegal immigrant and transfer them to federal custody.
• H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which seeks to create a physical barrier at the border while utilizing new technologies to produce a “virtual” border fence. 
• H.R. 4830, the Border Tunnel Prevention Act, establishes tough new penalties for anyone constructing illegal tunnels under the United States border and for those who allows such tunnels to be built on their property.