Sam Johnson

Immigration

Border Security and No Amnesty

I say if you are here legally, you ought to be rewarded.  If you are here illegally, you ought to be deported.

We must do something to shore up our porous borders.  I am a strong proponent of using an “enforcement first” approach to combat our serious illegal immigration problem. 

I will not support granting instant American citizenship to illegal immigrants – sometimes called “amnesty.”   This is an affront to all of the folks who have followed the rules and waited in line to become citizens of America legally.  The concept of blanket amnesty is an outrage.  Amnesty rewards people for breaking our laws and encourages others to do the same. We tried amnesty during the 1980s.  It was a complete failure.  We must learn from our mistakes.  We know this: Amnesty Does Not Work.

Social Security Benefits for Americans Only

Social Security benefits should only go to American citizens and legal immigrants who rightfully earned them.  As the Ranking Member on the Social Security Subcommittee, I have fought to ensure this fair and reasonable idea does not get trampled. 

In the future when Congress returns to the illegal immigration reform debate, I will fight to ensure that only Americans receive Social Security benefits.  It’s just common-sense.

Worksite enforcement as a component of illegal immigration reform

Recently I re-introduced my bill, the New Employee Verification Act, or NEVA.  The Act would build upon the successes and fix the flaws of the current employment verification system known as E-Verify.  It would replace the current paper-based and error-prone I-9 process – upon which E-Verify is based – with an easy-to-use electronic verification system that is already in use by 90 percent of American employers. 

My bipartisan bill will achieve three important objectives: ensure a legal workforce, secure workers’ identity, and protect Social Security.  The bill strengthens worksite enforcement by making employers part of the solution

With E-Verify scheduled to expire, now is the time for the Congress to create a new way forward that prevents unauthorized employment.