Border Security

Our district in southeastern Arizona has paid a heavy price for the burden of drug smuggling and illegal immigration.  We can effectively solve this crisis by working across party lines to produce real results for the American people.  I believe that a safe border helps make our whole nation more secure.

Since I first went to Congress, protecting our borders has remained a high priority.  I have repeatedly fought for more Border Patrol agents and technology to secure our border. In addition, I have worked to increase funding for the State Criminal Alien Program (SCAAP), a federal program that reimburses local law enforcement agencies for the apprehension and detention of illegal immigrants. For more details on my efforts to secure the border, please click here.

>>FIND OUT how I am standing up to boycotts of Arizona

 

Protecting Southern Arizona

I have worked with members of both parties to build support in Congress for new border security measures and taken action in the district to address the border security concerns of citizens and local law enforcement agencies.Please click on any of the bills listed below or scroll down the page for details on my efforts to secure the border.

Emergency Supplemental Appropriation for Border Security of 2010 (H.R. 6080)

Deployment of the National Guard to the Border (H.Con.Res.273)

Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act (H.R. 5307)

Homeland Security Appropriations Bills for FY 2008, FY 2009, FY 2010 and FY 2011

The Tunnel Enforcement Act (H.R. 4326)

Stored Value Device Registration and Reporting Act (H.R. 4966) 

New Employee Verification Act (NEVA) – H.R. 5515 and H.R. 2028

Border Security Accountability Act (H.R. 5552)

Mobile Biometric Identification Program in the Maritime (H.R. 1148)

Border Violence Prevention Act (H.R. 1867)

Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act (H.R. 2134)

 

Emergency Supplemental Appropriation for Border Security of 2010 (H.R. 6080)

This legislation provided an immediate appropriation of $600 million to increase personnel, technology and other assets for border security. It was approved by the House of Representatives on Aug. 10, 2010 and by the Senate on August 12. It was signed into law by the president on Aug. 13, 2010.

Watch my floor speech in support of this legislation.

 

Deployment of the National Guard to the Border (H.Con.Res.273)

In March and April 2010, I wrote and met with the president and the secretary of Homeland Security urging them to deploy National Guard troops to the Arizona border to ensure the safety and security of residents living on or near the border. In April I joined a bipartisan group of House members in sending a letter to the president calling on him to authorize the deployment of National Guard troops to the Southwest border.

I introduced Concurrent Resolution 273 with Congressman Ted Poe, R-TX on May 4, 2010 calling for urgent action to secure the border in the interests of national security. This bipartisan resolution stated that it is the sense of Congress that the escalating level of violence on the United States- Mexico border is a serious threat to the national security of the United States. The resolution urged the president to deploy National Guard troops to the border to assist the Border Patrol in its border security mission.

On May 25, 2010, the president ordered the deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the Southwest border. The deployment has put 560 troops on the border in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties. All troops were in place by Sept. 30, 2010. The troops are conducting surveillance along the border and are providing other support to the Border Patrol.

 

Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act (H.R. 5307)

I introduced this legislation with Congressman Dean Heller, R-Nev. to fight drug cartels, who continuously look for new ways to smuggle drugs into the United States. Their latest method is to use ultralight aircraft that are flown by a single pilot and are capable of flying up to 200 miles into our country. The Department of Homeland Security indicates that more than 190 such incursions have been reported since October 2009.

This legislation would amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to include ultralight aircraft under the aviation smuggling provisions. Under this bill, a conviction for smuggling in an ultralight could result in a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in addition to the punishment for smuggling drugs.

On Sept. 23, 2010, the House passed the Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act by a vote of 412-3.

Please watch my floor speech by clicking here.

 

Homeland Security Appropriations Bills for FY 2008, FY 2009, FY 2010 and FY 2011

I advocated and voted for increased funding to hire more Border Patrol agents
and provide them with the technology and support they need to carry out their border security mission. These increased appropriations have doubled the number of Border Patrol agents assigned to the Tucson Sector and funded miles of new fencing, 25 additional mobile surveillance systems, new hightech equipment including vehicle x-ray machines, interior checkpoints and other border security assets.

Appropriations bills for FY 2008, 2009 and 2010 were approved by Congress and signed into law by the president.

 

The Tunnel Enforcement Act (H.R. 4326)

I introduced this legislation to ensure that the federal government can criminally prosecute  smugglers who tunnel into the United States. It adds to the federal code a provision to criminalize the construction of tunnels under the U.S. border. It establishes criminal penalties for using tunnels to smuggle illegal immigrants, goods, controlled substances, weapons or terrorists.

H.R. 4326 was included in the final FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill that passed the House in 2007 and was signed into law by the president.

 

Stored Value Device Registration and Reporting Act (H.R. 4966)

I introduced this legislation with Congressman Brian Bilbray, R-Calif. Drug cartels use stored value devices to launder money in and out of the United States. A recent threat assessment by the U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center dubbed the stored-value devices "an ideal money-laundering instrument." These devices also can be used to transfer funds to terrorist organizations outside the United States.

The legislation will regulate the use of these cards under Title 31 and require individuals to declare to Customs Officers at the border if they are carrying $10,000 or more on a stored value device. It will create stiff penalties for knowingly smuggling stored value devices into the United States and also requires operators of stored value systems to register with the Treasury and to list the businesses that issue stored value devices.

This legislation is pending consideration in the House Committee on Financial Services.

 

New Employee Verification Act (NEVA) – H.R. 5515 and H.R. 2028

 I introduced NEVA with Congressman Sam Johnson, R-Texas in both the 110th and 111th Congresss to replace E-Verify with a mandatory and more effective and reliable employee verification system. It would provide protections for lawabiding employers and employees. NEVA would create a national, mandatory electronic system to verify the legal status of new hires.

This legislation is pending with the House Judiciary, Ways & Means and Education & Labor committees. 

 

Border Security Accountability Act (H.R. 5552)

This legislation would require that the Department of Homeland Security report on a variety of activities, benchmarks and expenditures including:

• apprehension, detention and deportation processes and rates;
• staffing needs for all border security functions, taking into account threat and vulnerability information pertaining to the borders and the impact of new security programs, policies and technologies; and
• training for all border security functions, taking into account new security programs, policies, technologies and challenges and threats unique to the region and terrain where the trainee will be assigned.

On May 22, 2008, I testified to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism about H.R. 5552 and the immigration and security challenges facing Southern Arizona.

This legislation is pending consideration in the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism.

 

Mobile Biometric Identification Program in the Maritime (H.R. 1148)

This bill would require the secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a program in the maritime environment for the mobile biometric identification of suspected individuals, including terrorists, to enhance border security.

This legislation passed the House on March 24, 2009.

 

Border Violence Prevention Act (H.R. 1867)

 This legislation would help prevent Mexican drug cartel violence from spilling over into the U.S. by providing more boots on the ground, new equipment and 21st-century technology for Customs and Border Protection and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

This legislation is pending in the House Committee on Homeland Security. 

 

Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act (H.R. 2134)

This legislation would establish the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission to review and evaluate U.S. illicit drug supply policy and demand reduction policies and programs, and identify policy and program options to improve existing international and domestic counternarcotics policy.

This legislation is pending in the House committees on Foreign Affairs, Judiciary and Energy and Commerce.

 

Please check out a timeline of my actions in recent months.

 

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