Issue Position: Immigration

Issue Position

The United States is a nation of immigrants and was founded on ideals that honor this tradition. The feedback I hear from my neighbors in south-central Michigan and other Americans is nearly unanimous: our immigration system is broken. I believe it is in dire need of real, lasting reform, and I propose we begin with:

Securing Our Borders
Failing to secure our borders and ports of entry poses a security risk to our citizens and ignores the rule of law. In the 112th Congress, I helped pass H.R. 1299, the Secure Our Borders Act, which would require a comprehensive strategy for gaining operational control of our land and maritime borders. Additionally, in August 2014, I helped pass H.R. 5230 to provide funding to address our current crisis along the Southwest border. Specifically, H.R. 5230 will increase security along the border, address the needs of federal agencies to enforce immigration and customs laws, provide care for the thousands of unaccompanied children and families, and deliver tools to prevent further crises. We must also provide law enforcement with the proper training, technology and resources to enforce our current laws and reduce the threat of drugs, weapons, and human trafficking coming across our borders.

Enforcing the Law
With over 11 million illegal aliens currently living in the United States, it is apparent that we need to do more to uphold our laws. Our current system encourages people to break the law and punishes those who abide by it, ultimately harming both prospective legal immigrants and hardworking Americans. I believe we must empower state and local law enforcement, and equip Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce federal immigration law, and demand that the Department of Justice uphold the laws in place.

Cutting the Red-Tape for Legal Immigration
Immigrants who want to join our citizenry should be encouraged and assisted in doing so the same way millions of immigrants have legally done so for generations. We need to create a work permit program that eliminates bureaucratic red-tape and meets the evolving needs of economy, especially our agricultural, educational, and technological sectors. Right now, more than half of the undocumented population are visa overstays, which highlights the difficulty in renewing work visas. Instead of punishing lawful immigrants with a burdensome system, we should instead work towards fostering an environment where employers' needs are being met by job-seeking, productive individuals who want to work.

As the House considers its own package of bills to reform immigration policy, please know that I will support measures that honor our nation's founding tradition of legal immigration, secures our borders, and addresses the bureaucratic red-tape which prevents legal immigrants from entering our country and helping to meet our workforce needs.

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