Issue Position: Immigration

Issue Position

· Principle 22 - A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.

· Principle 28 - The United States has a manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God's law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.

It is the responsibility of our government to foster, manage and maintain a secure -- and fair -- immigration process. Since America was built by immigrants, it is both our history and our culture to welcome those from other shores -- to this "…last best hope of Earth." (Abraham Lincoln) However, it is incumbent upon our government to also secure our shores -- and our borders -- from all enemies. I believe these two ideas can be combined effectively.

My plan for immigration is straightforward. First and foremost we must secure our borders so that we may control who has access to the greatest country on earth. I advocate doing this using the latest technology and the use of the National Guard to defend that border. We should also address the open border to our north -- it is an extremely vulnerable and porous perimeter that is being challenged with repetition by terrorists.

We should streamline our immigration procedures to process legal immigrants more quickly and efficiently but we should not offer amnesty to anyone here illegally. There are millions of potential citizens around the world waiting for their chance to become Americans and who are playing by the rules we've established for legal immigration. Those people should be given first preference over anyone who's come here illegally or overstayed a visa. At the same time, we must ramp up the security screening and cross-checking with law-enforcement personnel.

We should give businesses the tools they need to screen workers for legal work status like E-Verify and then hold them accountable for their hiring decisions. Finally, we should enforce the laws already on the books for dealing with illegal aliens, including immediate deportation for any illegal alien arrested for a crime in this country.

Source