Issue Position: Immigration

Issue Position

We're a Nation of immigrants and immigrants will always continue to be welcomed when they have properly made application to live, work, and become law abiding citizens of the USA. Almost every citizen of the United States is the offspring of ancestors who came from somewhere else. My family came from Europe; others came from Canada, Mexico, Asia, or some other Country. Illegal immigration, or the more popular and politically correct term "undocumented' immigration, is not the problem in and of itself. The major problem is the economic stress placed on State infrastructures due to the added burden placed on government funded social welfare programs because of increased demand by undocumented, and often, unemployed illegal residents.

The challenge of immigration is not the fact that we allow immigrants entry and citizenship in America; I have no problem whatsoever with legal immigration. The problem is created by the lack of a practical immigration policy that includes consistent border protection and a reasonable and rational entry application process. In my opinion, a significant part of the problem is failure to adequately seal and secure our borders and create an immigration process that is functionally practical. Better border security and immigration reform will solve many of our problems. Better border security along with reforms of our immigration laws can help keep criminals out while giving those who want to be honest, law abiding citizens the opportunity to begin a legal application process without fear of deportation. Blanket amnesty cannot be the solution nor can wholesale deportation be considered. Neither of those options are practical. Undocumented immigrants should be able to engage in the defined legal application process without fear of deportation.

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