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Immigration
Information related to Issues concerning Immigration.
For far too long Congress has failed to address illegal immigration.
My approach to immigration policy is guided by the following seven principles:
1. Fix legal immigration
2. Reject amnesty
3. Lock down the border and enforce visas
4. Enforce current laws
5. Remove incentives to be here illegally
6. Give businesses the tools to operate legally
7. Insist on assimilation
I am a strong supporter of a national E-verify program. E-verify is a simple and accurate computer based program through which employers can be assured they are hiring people who are in this country legally. It also ensures that those who are here illegally will be unable to fraudulently obtain employment. E-verify will help to fix our legal immigration system and will remove a large incentive (jobs) for being here illegally. I am a proud supporter of H.R. 2885, The Legal Workforce Act, which phases in a nationwide, mandatory E-verify system. I will continue to work tirelessly to see that this bill becomes the law of the land.
In addition, I believe we will never adequately address our illegal immigration problem until we fix legal immigration. With that in mind, I introduced H.R. 3012, The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, which passed the House with a resounding bipartisan vote of 389 to 15. This bill creates a fair and equitable, “first-come, first-served” system for high skilled immigrants. Under this system, U.S. companies will be able to focus on what they do best — hiring smart people to create products, services and jobs for Americans.
Neither of these bill attempt to address all of our immigration problems. But they are important steps that I hope will build momentum toward more significant policy changes in the future. I will continue to pursue commonsense solutions to help fix legal immigration in this country, and I remain committed to working with members from both sides of the aisle as I do so.