Washington – The IRS has been caught red handed punishing the Obama administration’s political enemies, while the NSA is scoping out every person in America’s emails and phone records. President Obama is being rocked by scandal after scandal. It’s simply baffling that the House Republican leadership has now changed the subject to granting amnesty to millions of people who are illegally in the country.
My constituents know I have always been an advocate of legal immigration. The United States is a melting pot of various nationalities, and this has contributed to our overall success as a nation.
The Senate’s Gang-of-Eight immigration bill goes about immigration reform exactly backwards. First they seek to legalize at least 11 million people illegally here now and then trust the Obama administration to secure the border later. We should have learned our lesson from the 1986 bill that provided legal status or amnesty, but the promised border security was never accomplished, which has led us to another amnesty or legal status bill today. We cannot let that happen again.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has stated time after time that America’s borders are more secure now than they’ve ever been. Our border governors say otherwise. It seems like the governors, who are on the front lines, would have a better idea of the security of our borders.
When we actually take the steps required to secure the borders, we should have our border governors, not the Obama administration, certify that they are secure. I’m sure, after that’s accomplished, all of us could quickly come to an agreement about what to do with our broken immigration system and the millions who have come here illegally.
Implementing the so-called comprehensive immigration reform without first actually securing the border would be detrimental to our national security and sovereignty. I have learned that “comprehensive” normally means that there are provisions that will harm our nation and, thus, would not pass unless hidden in a bill massive enough that they do not get noticed until it is too late.
House Speaker John Boehner has said that he will not bring an immigration bill to the floor of the House that doesn’t have support of a majority of Republicans. That’s a good thing. However, if we pass a good, strong, serious immigration bill out of the House, it will then be sent to a “Conference Committee” for compromise and combination with the Senate bill which some Senators have made clear shall have amnesty included without secure borders. I cannot be a party to that breach of our national security.
Our security is already at risk when our FBI cannot even properly vet the two Boston bombers, the Tsarnev brothers, even when the Russian government gives us their location, their cell phone numbers, tells us where they live and that the older brother is a terrorist. The solution is not to dump at least 11 million more people into that same system for background checks. That is insanity.
It was for these and other reasons I have joined with Reps. Steve King and Michele Bachmann leading a group of Republican members to simply ask our leadership for some time this week to talk about immigration bills and our options. The leadership has never allowed us to talk exclusively about the immigration issue while we’re all in the same room. At this point, Republican leaders are only offering to let us have a meeting in July after all of the voting on the bills is done in our committees. This is unacceptable. My solution is to pass a resolution that says that as soon as this administration secures (but not closes) the border as verified by the four southern border state governors, then we will proceed on a bill that reforms our immigration system. Otherwise, granting another amnesty bill in return for a promise that someday the border will be secured would be disastrous.
I will continue to put the safety and security of all Americans before political expedience and party politics. I am more loyal to this country than I am to a party, and humbled by the chance to be your servant in Washington.
Faithfully Yours,
Louie