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| Wilson Calls for Comprehensive Plan for Immigration Policy |
December 17, 2005 |
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| Supports Strong Border Security, Says House Bill Falls Short
Washington — Congresswoman Heather Wilson today said we need a comprehensive plan for immigration and voted against the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437), which passed 239-182.
“I want a comprehensive plan that works,” Wilson said. “We need a strategy to secure the border. We need enough border patrol agents to stop illegal immigration and human trafficking. But that is not all we need. We must reform the system so that those caught coming in illegally are returned promptly, and there is a workable system for employers to hire people legally.”
Wilson has laid out six principles that guide her approach to border security:
First, we have to secure the border. We should make it harder for people to cross the border illegally, easier for people to get caught and easier for people to be sent back immediately.
Providing security is not just about barriers and more border patrol guards, which she supports. If you drive along the border near El Paso you will see the holes cut in the fence from the previous night. We need better ways to detain people and return them to their home country immediately.
Second, Wilson supports a guest worker program when we have low unemployment to allow people to come temporarily to the United States to work. But they must do so legally and not jump to the head of the line because they are here already by circumventing our laws.
We are a nation of immigrants. Most of us trace our families back to an ancestor that came to America to build a better life for themselves and their families. Wilson supports legal immigration that allows families to be reunited and allows a number of hard-working people who want to help build this great country to come to this country.
Third, she opposes amnesty. It is not right to allow people who have come here illegally to legalize their status when there are tens of thousands of people waiting to come to America who are following the law.
Some people argue that amnesty will improve our security because we will know who is here in this country. She does not think that is credible. People who are running drugs, committing crimes or plotting to attack us are unlikely to come forward to accept amnesty.
Fourth, we need to use newer biometric technology for visas and green cards so that an employer can verify with confidence that a person is here legally and be held accountable with tough penalties for employing illegal immigrants.
Fifth, illegal immigrants who are caught breaking the law should be deported to their country of origin.
And finally, we need to increase the pressure on Mexico to slow the tide of illegal immigrants and prosecute human trafficking in cooperation with U.S. law enforcement.
Wilson continues to back tough measures to secure our borders. The Homeland Security Appropriations Act, signed into law October 18, 2005, steps up border security, add agents in New Mexico and provides $30.8 billion for Homeland Security operations in fiscal year 2006. The addition of 1,500 border agents nationwide in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 is expected to increase the agents in New Mexico’s Deming-Lordsburg corridor by more than 60 percent, which could bring the number of agents in New Mexico from roughly 640 to about a 1,000.
Homeland Security Appropriations for 2006 is $19.1 billion for border protection, immigration enforcement, and related activities, including: $1.8 billion for border security, funding an additional 1,000 Border Patrol Agents that, with the FY05 supplemental appropriations, will allow a total of 1,500 new agents; $41 million for border security technology; $562 million for Air and Marine Operations for border and airspace security; $139 million for the Container Security Initiative, supporting efforts in 48 foreign ports; and $21 million to maintain security and facilitate travel on our land borders; and a 4 percent increase over the 2005 funding level for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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