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Dr. Boozman's Check-up

There are reasonable measures that we can take to reform our immigration system, but the bill brought forth in the Senate fails to provide the necessary actions that will keep us from having to revisit this issue in the future. 

While making drastic policy changes, this legislation fails to address the core problem of border security and providing the resources necessary for enforcement. Instead this gives the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) discretion and waiver authority to make decisions that should be left to Congress. In the opinion of our current DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, the border is “more secure than it has ever been” and there is no need for additional border security. I disagree. We need proof that our borders are secure before legalization begins. 

Unfortunately, this bill takes the opposite approach - legalize now, enforce later. This is an idea Congress approved in the mid-1980s leading to amnesty for millions of people. This method didn’t work then and it won’t work now. We see that same principle in this legislation. I won’t support any law that grants amnesty. The idea that we should reward people who are violating the law with a shortcut to citizenship is not the proper way to fix our broken system. 

The bill also repeals the proven E-Verify workplace enforcement system. E-verify has a successful track record of combating the hiring of illegal immigrants and is currently used by nearly 270,000 employers nationwide. Instead this legislation implements an untested system that won’t be fully operational for five years. 

I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues to fix our immigration system, but the American people deserve a solution that upholds the rule of law. This bill fails to address what Americans want most, improved border security, enforcement of laws and functioning legal immigrant system that prevents a continued influx of people from abusing the system. 

We are committed to working to make the bill better. My colleagues have good ideas that can improve the legislation and we will be working with members on both sides of the aisle as we amend the bill on the Senate floor and provide real reforms that we so desperately need.