Issue Position: Border Security

Issue Position

We will never win the war on terror until we secure our borders. Lawlessness breeds lawlessness, and this lack of enforcement is allowing illegal aliens and potential terrorists to enter our country.

I am fundamentally opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Our nation was built by immigrants, and we need legal immigrants who are willing to become Americans, learn English, and become productive citizens.
Congress should pass an enforcement first immigration policy that brings law and order to the border before debating a temporary work program that will require illegal immigrants to return home before they can legally apply for a visa.
I am helping to expand a successful zero tolerance program that is deterring border crossings and dramatically reducing illegal immigration. Under this strict enforcement policy, every illegal alien caught crossing the border is arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for up to six months. I recently helped expand this program to the Laredo Border Patrol Sector and I will not rest until zero tolerance is in effect from Brownsville to San Diego.
Using my position on the Appropriations Committee, I personally obtained an additional $80 million in funding to help secure America's borders in 2008. These funds will provide border law enforcement officers with additional resources and help expand a strict, zero tolerance policy towards illegal aliens.
I am working on a bill to send $150 million to border county sheriffs and other law enforcement officials along the southern border, while also giving them the authority they need to identify, arrest, and detain illegal aliens at federal expense.
Cities such as Houston that have adopted "sanctuary policies" (policies that prevent local law enforcement officers from asking individuals they arrest, detain, or stop whether they are in the county legally) are violating federal law and encouraging illegal immigration. I am working to reverse this policy in Houston and other cities around the country.
Employers should be required to verify the legal status of all employees using a national database. This requirement will reduce the incentive for illegal immigration and provide employers with the information they need to hire legal, documented workers.
Dangerous criminal gangs such as MS-13 and the Zetas exploit our relatively open borders to smuggle drugs and individuals into the U.S.
I have confirmed with the FBI Director that Middle Easterners are crossing our southern border and adopting Hispanic names and identities.

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