It’s time for you to join FAIR in the fight for true
immigration reform!
Frontline border agents. Career homeland security officials. Border state leaders. The message is clear: we’ve reached the breaking point. In February, more than 76,000 illegal aliens were apprehended. In March, more than 96,000 and in April, a record-setting 106,000 apprehensions. And on May 30, a single group of 1,036 illegal aliens simply walked from Juárez, Mexico into the United States. In one day, the largest group ever apprehended at the border.
And still, Congress does nothing. Or worse, they pass a mass amnesty or cut funding for critical border agencies.
Congress has been listening to the special interests and not you, the American people. It is time to act before we lose total control of our borders. We need to remind Congress that they answer to you!
5 Ways Congress Can SOLVE the Border Crisis:
1. CONTROL THE BORDER
In the last six months, there have been more than 600,000 apprehensions on the Southern border. U.S. immigration authorities now have over 80,000 people in custody, a record level that is beyond sustainable capacity. Human and drug traffickers will continue to exploit our weak border without sufficient funding for the agents and agencies on the front lines.
Congress must fulfill President Trump’s emergency budget request, including: $211 million to hire more Border Patrol officers, $571 million to deploy law enforcement personnel, $4.2 billion for additional detention beds and $800 million for “humanitarian needs.”
In addition, Congress must end its irrelevant, politically-inspired investigations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and fully fund the agency.
2. CAP IMMIGRATION NUMBERS
Without limits on the number of immigrants and refugees allowed into the country every year, migrants will continue to believe there will be no consequences for breaking immigration law.
There must be a set, enforceable cap on the number of refugees and asylum seekers granted entry every year. Congress must end the practice of chain migration—which permits one immigrant to bring in an endless number of relatives—and restrict it to immediate family members. Finally, they must prevent any further amnesties, including giving parents of DACA beneficiaries a pathway to citizenship. It is time for the U.S. to shift to a merit-based immigration system with clear standards and limits on those permitted into the country every year.
3. CLEAN UP THE IMMIGRATION COURTS
As of November 2018, 809,041 cases were pending before the immigration courts. Over 2,350 unaccompanied minors—the highest level ever—are currently in government custody, and thousands of illegal adults have already been released throughout the country due to overcrowding.
Congress must meet President Trump’s request for $563 million to hire additional immigration judges and support staff. They must also pass necessary reforms to ensure cases are heard in a quick and efficient manner.
4. CUT THE JOB MAGNET
Congress must address one of the main causes of the border crisis – the jobs magnet. They must begin by passing mandatory E-verify to prevent unscrupulous employers from hiring illegal workers and to deter illegal aliens from crossing the border to look for jobs.
In addition, Congress needs to put caps on various foreign worker visa programs, such as H-1Bs and the EB-5 investor-visa program, and increase prosecutions of employers who violate workplace laws.
5. CLOSE ASYLUM LOOPHOLES
There are more than 300,000 pending asylum cases before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and as many before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
Congress must start by terminating the Flores Agreement, which limits the time illegal aliens can remain in detention.
Then, they must bar asylum seekers from obtaining work authorization, introduce application fees, expand the ability to return asylum seekers to safe third countries, and quicken the adjudication process to ensure migrants who do not qualify for protection will be promptly removed.