Issue Position: Immigration

Issue Position

I strongly believe that our immigration system is broken and that only a comprehensive approach to reform will provide us with a long-term solution. I support legislation that promotes family reunification; asylum and refugee admissions; fully funded education opportunities from Pre-K through college (like Head Start and the DREAM Act); and employment-based immigration (like Ag-JOBS).

We must strike a balance between American jobs, border safety and national security interests. We must make sure that our borders are secure. However, long-term residents -- many of whom work hard in our fields, pay their fair share of taxes and have U.S. citizen children -- have earned the right to start down the path toward a regularization of status. I also support programs like the Silver Star Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs and the Merida Project, designed to help immigrants and their families improve their lives.

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