Our nation was founded and built by immigrants yearning to breathe free. I believe we should continue building on that proud tradition by welcoming newcomers into our nation while insisting that they learn and follow our language, laws, and history.

Our immigration system as it now stands is broken. We now have a system in place that incentivizes families to separate and send their children alone on a dangerous trek across Mexico under the false pretense that they will be granted citizenship at our border. This same system rewards those who break our laws and punishes those that follow them.

This does not mean that our system is in dire need of a complete overhaul.  In fact, I believe ninety percent of our immigration issues would be solved if we just enforced the laws on the book. Simply put, the federal government is directly responsible for enforcing existing laws to secure our borders and ensure the safe and legal movement of people and goods across our borders. I am strongly opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants. Respect for the rule of law is a hallmark of our democracy, and it is one of the reasons America has the largest immigrant population in the world. We must work to streamline and improve our visa system so that people who want to come to our country legally are able to do so through the proper channels without unnecessary delays. 

I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 399, the Secure our Borders First Act, introduced earlier this year by Representative Michael McCaul (TX-10). This important bill assigns specific timelines and stringent goals to the Department of Homeland Security, requiring them to gain Operational Control of high traffic areas in two years, and the entire southern border in five years. It also requires DHS aircraft to increase their patrols over the border, specifically with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles flying a minimum of 16 hours per day, every day. These are just some of the measures outlined in the bill to ensure we stop the flood of illegal immigrants across the border.

Other Cosponsored Bills:

• H.R. 191, Repeal Executive Amnesty Act
• H.R. 3009, Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act - passed House on July 23, 2015
• H.R. 3566, To prohibit an alien who is not in a lawful immigration status in the United States from being eligible for post secondary education benefits that are not available to all citizens and nationals of the United States
• H.R. 3573, Refugee Resettlement Oversight and Security Act of 2015
• H.R. 3437, Protecting American Lives Act
• H.R. 604, Nuclear Family Priority Act
• H.R. 4186- Enemy Expatriation Act