Immigration

Our district in Southeastern Arizona has paid a heavy price for the burden of illegal immigration.

It is extremely unfortunate that the Senate voted to end debate on comprehensive immigration reform legislation in June 2007.  I have continued to push Congressional leadership to hold hearings and take up immigration reform legislation.

Employee Verification Amendment Act

On July 31, 2008, the House passed the Employee Verification Amendment Act (H.R. 6633) that I authored. This legislation creates common sense changes to the federal program for verifying the citizenship status of newly-hired employees.  It passed by a vote of 407 to 2.  Click here to read my op-ed in the Willcox Range News about this legislation.

I spoke on the House floor to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6633 – you can watch a video of my speech by clicking here.

As many of you know, Arizona became the first state to require businesses to use E-Verify, the Department of Homeland Security program to verify employees’ eligibility to work.

Based on the initial feedback from Arizonan companies about E-Verify, I cosponsored the New Employee Verification Act (“NEVA,” H.R. 5515). That bill would replace the current pilot program with a mandatory, nation-wide program that is more reliable and enforceable. It would also pre-empt state laws on employee verification.

However, NEVA is still pending in Committee, the only opportunity to advance this goal during the current congressional session was to make adjustments to the existing E-Verify program, which was set to expire in November. Congress had to re-authorize it even as the debate on its merits and possible alternatives continues.

That is why I introduced the Employee Verification Amendment Act, which provides for a 5-year extension of E-Verify.  Given the increasing requirements on employers to use E-Verify, I believe that within five years, the federal government will take up legislation to implement a mandatory system that operates uniformly across all 50 states.

My advocacy for NEVA will continue and will be strengthened by a better understanding of the pitfalls in the current E-Verify system. That is why my bill includes studies into how E-verify impacts small businesses and accurately confirms workers’ legality. Congress must learn from the experiences of employers and employees in states like Arizona. We are on the frontlines of this debate. Lessons learned in Arizona will help us develop a mandatory program that pre-empts state laws.

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program

I have continued to fight to fully fund the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), a federal program that reimburses local law enforcement agencies for the apprehension and detention of illegal immigrants. In March 2008, I successfully lobbied the House Budget Committee to reinstate SCAAP funding in the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget. The President’s budget proposal had zeroed out SCAAP funding completely.  In June 2008, I successfully convinced the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding in the Fiscal Year 2009 Justice Department Appropriations for SCAAP by $10 million over 2008.  Click here to watch me testifying before the House Budget Committee about SCAAP.

Tunnel Enforcement Act

I authored the Tunnel Enforcement Act (H.R. 4326), legislation that ensures that there are criminal penalties for using tunnels to smuggle illegal aliens, goods, controlled substances, weapons, or terrorists.  H.R. 4326 passed the House as a provision in the final FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act, H.R. 2764, on December 19, 2007, and was signed into law by the President on December 26, 2007.

Border Security Accountability Act

I sponsored the Border Security Accountability Act of 2008 (H.R. 5552), which would require that the Department of Homeland Security report on a variety of activities, benchmarks and expenditures including:

• the apprehension, detention, and deportation process and rates;
• the staffing needs for all border security functions, taking into account threat and vulnerability information pertaining to the borders and the impact of new security programs, policies, and technologies; and
• training for all border security functions, taking into account new security programs, policies, technologies, and challenges and threats unique to the region and terrain where the trainee will be assigned. 

H.R. 5552 was referred to the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism.

Border Health Care Relief Act

I have not relented in my efforts to find ways to ease the burden placed on our local law enforcement, health and social service agencies and public schools.  That is why I introduced the Border Health Care Relief Act (H.R. 6394), legislation that would extend the program that reimburses states for emergency health services that are provided to undocumented workers through Fiscal Year 2012.  Current law providing for these reimbursements expires at the end of FY 2008.  H.R. 6394 is pending in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Since the start of my term in Congress, I have been meeting with community leaders, elected officials and residents to learn how illegal immigration affects their every day lives. Receiving letters from constituents, like you, also guides my work. This information is very helpful as I educate and persuade my colleagues to take on this complicated economic, social and public safety issue.

It is imperative that we secure the border now. We can effectively solve this crisis by working across party lines to produce real results for the American people.  In particular, we need:

• increased border security using modern-era technology, including radar, drones and electronic surveillance,
• additional Border Patrol agents and improved support for these agents with better training and equipment,
• tough employer sanctions for employers who are knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, and
• a guest worker program, so that people can come in, work legally and safely, and return back to their home countries.

Border security is homeland security.  I believe that a safe and smart border helps make our whole nation more secure.  The fight for comprehensive immigration reform goes on and it will remain my top priority in Congress.