Immigration

"I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong." George Washington, May 1788

The United States is a nation of immigrants.  Furthermore, we've always welcomed those who chose to come to our shores in search of freedom and opportunity, but today we have a problem.  Our entire immigration process is broken and thousands cross our borders illegally, threatening the very safety and security of our nation.

To effectively deal with the immigration concerns in the United States we must, first and foremost, control our borders.  Otherwise anything else we might do would simply be ineffective.  Today, we've lost control of our borders.  I believe the American people will only deal with reform if they are convinced that the borders are secure first. 

In some quarters, discussions on illegal immigration have included talk of amnesty for those who entered the country illegally.  I feel very strongly that amnesty should not be automatically granted to those who are here illegally.  We are a nation of laws and we would send the wrong message if we were to merely give amnesty to those who openly disregard our laws.  

Again, we need to make sure that we secure our borders before we look at any other options.  Through a combination of physical barriers, such as fencing, updated technology, and more boots on the ground, we can close our borders to illegal entrants.