Voting Resources
Hello Congress! What Does It Take to Get Your Attention?
The situation at the border is getting worse! Workforce shortages are increasing, and millions of undocumented workers are being misclassified! America needs immigration reform NOW.
No reasonable person could doubt that there is a crisis going on at our border.
Representative Will Hurd said earlier this week, “In March, we had 100,000 people come into our country illegally. To get some context for that number, last year, 400,000 people in the entire year came in illegally. And April's going to be even worse than March.”
An article from the liberal New York Times published this past week admitted that our immigration system has reached its breaking point, pointing out, “The flow of migrant families has reached record levels, with February totals 560 percent above those for the same period last year,” and saying our country “is now unable to provide the necessary humanitarian relief for desperate migrants or even basic controls on the number and nature of who is entering the United States.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this last week he is “willing to enter into negotiations” with Democrats to address our nation’s immigration problems. “I think it’s way past time on both sides, that we sit down together and see what we can agree to, to improve the situation,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also said that she is willing to work with Republicans and President Trump on immigration reform.
This is good news. My advice to lawmakers echoes that of Senator John Cornyn when he urged Congress to “stop viewing this through a purely political lens. This is not a question of Trump wins, you lose.”
It’s time to put politics aside and do what’s right for our country. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle claim to support securing the border and improving our economy. Sensible immigration reform would do both of these things.
Congress needs to allocate more resources to securing the border. We need barriers in high-density areas, better technology, and more officers between and at ports of entry. We cannot continue to allow the argument over the wall to block immigration reform.
We also need to do something about the factors that are driving illegal immigration. Our “catch and release policy” irritates everyone! We must make sure that when we detain people who cross the border illegally that we treat them humanely; but just as we should also do with our own children, we must explain and enforce our laws. Now that the word is out, many migrants who are looking for economic opportunity are abusing our asylum laws to cut in front of migrants who are waiting in line. Without a doubt, anyone claiming asylum has the legal right to have their claims heard and considered.
Congress needs to put more resources towards improving the asylum process. We must improve detention centers and hire more immigration judges to decrease the ~850,000 immigration case backlog and speed up the process so those claiming asylum can be judged quickly and properly.
To prevent family separations, Congress needs to pass a law to override the Flores Settlement. It should allow parents who cross the border illegally with their children to choose to either keep their children with them while they are detained or allow their children to be released to relatives in the US while they await trial.
We also need better legal pathways for skilled farm workers and construction laborers to help fill open jobs that will boost economic growth so they are more inclined to come here legally.
And finally, at 3.8% unemployment, it does not make sense to be deporting undocumented workers. The right kind of immigration reform would bring undocumented workers out of the shadows and compel them and their employers to pay the proper taxes.
Our lawmakers should create a conditional method for undocumented workers who want to get right with the law to earn their legal status so we can ID and tax them properly.
Applicants should be required to provide a positive ID, pass a criminal background check, pay fines, provide proof of employment and proof of US residency for at least five years, learn English, and agree to work only for employers that deduct and match taxes.
These policies can reverse the current situation that allows illegal immigration and incentivizes employers to misclassify undocumented workers. Sensible immigration policies will improve our national security, prevent the trafficking of humans and illegal drugs, and greatly benefit our economy- things that every American should want.
Please continue to contact your lawmakers and tell them that you support sensible immigration reform.
May God bless you, and may He continue to bless America.
