Video: Border Security
We Arizonans, of all backgrounds, live with the problems of a porous border every day. Many of us have been the victims of violent crime, theft, and home invasions as a direct result of this border problem. We know that more than 90% of people who come to our great nation do so to make their lives better, but that does not excuse us for not addressing this serious problem.
We Americans have a right and responsibility to know and decide who enters our homeland, and I believe a robust immigration policy will aid in the future health and success of America. To do this, the federal government must fulfill its responsibility to secure our international borders and maintain operational control.
Our current situation has encouraged a permanent underclass without equal access to the law. This is dangerous to everyone and promotes continued illegal behavior and increased resentment among citizens, legal non-citizens, and those here illegally. Though it is unlikely we will ever eliminate illegal crossings without eliminating the moral hazards created by our welfare state, we must work toward realistic solutions. Only with a multi-faceted approach will we address the underlying economic dynamics that drive this issue.
We cannot secure our borders until we minimize the illegal immigration problem. To do that, Congress should:
- Demand the enforcement of existing laws to the maximum extent possible
- Deny federal welfare for those here illegally, to sanctuary cities, and to nations whose citizens come here illegally
- Deny “anchor-baby” and chain migration by clarifying the 14th amendment
- Deny amnesty
- Create a robust, market-based, legal immigration system
- Create an accountable, employer-based, temporary worker program
With the illegal immigration problem in hand, the Border Patrol and our court system then have a manageable problem of thousands or hundreds of incursions, not millions. To solve the remaining problem, the federal government should:
- Provide for strategically placed walls and barriers
- Provide all required resources to the Border Patrol and local law enforcement
- Provide for ground-based sensors and airborne assets
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Mar 13 at 7:45 am | Cody
What is your posistion on are border with Canada? When I was kid all you needed was to show your drivers liscense now you need to get a passport and deal with an increasingly militarized border. I know this isn’t an issue for most people in Arizona however you being in congress if elected means you’ll have votes on this matter. So are you for increasing security at the Canadian border? Keeping the same as it is now? Or would you be for how it was before to 9/11?
Mar 23 at 3:15 am | Douglas J. Dennee
Your position sounds very good to me. The federal government should bear the responsibility and cost for protecting our borders. I don’t feel that the federal government should provide any funds (welfare or otherwise) for illegals. Again, let each state develop its own plan for addressing this issue. If certain states want to provide the benefits, let them bare the financial burden.
Apr 25 at 12:23 pm | John Fitzpatrick
THE most insidious threat that we face today as a nation, as communities and as individuals is COMPLACENCY. It is complacency that has allowed our constitution to be eroded over the years, and it is our level of complacency that will ultimately determine our fate. The Border security problem is a national security problem, and a law enforcement problem. It is a crime to enter any country illegally, not just the United States. For years, this issues has been kept in the shadows as politicians have avoided having to REALLY address it in any meaningful way. We have seen a significant buildup of enforcement resources on the border, but it is not enough. A system of accountable immigration for the needed labor pool, strong interior enforcement that holds employers accountable, and strong border enforcement are required to secure our borders. The numbers of criminals coming over our borders every day is staggering, and this is just the ones that we know about. The narco-terrorists are as dangerous as any other terrorist if not more so. We need people in Congress who are not about personal agendas, and who realize that this great Nation is on a precipice, at a crossroads. It is time take back our Constitution.
Apr 25 at 11:21 pm | Susan Escalante
What about our funding education for students here illegally?
A very large chunk of education funding is used by these students.
Then we supply additional funding to provide English Language Classes and this applies to illegal students and anchor babies. This is very difficult for the teachers and the native students who speak English.
How about holding those who cross into the US illegally responsible for their own actions: Their goal is to have that “anchor” in a timely manner to access welfare and avoid deportation. Their is no hope of citizenship for the majority of these people. The hope is a better life on US taxpayers dime. Dad’s working claiming 5 or 6 dependents, mom’s working cash jobs and collecting welfare, claiming she doesn’t know where dad is, or that they are not married or living together.
I am a grandparent raising 4 grandchildren. I am worried about paying for college & medical & dental care especially among this time of raising taxes and costs of living. I am fed up with supporting anchor babies and their familes. I, and many like me, want results, not promises like we got in 86′.
Apr 29 at 9:44 pm | Linda
One problem which never seems to be addressed is the source of Mexican immigration (as opposed to discussing the people coming into the US illegally from over 100 other countries). To me, it is clear that the problem is the Mexican government’s negative effect on its own citizens, which is a large reason many Mexicans leave their country. The Mexican governments is by many accounts extremely corrupt. I lived there and know that many good Mexicans have their businesses taken away by the government, live in dire conditions and so forth. I do not know the details as to why the people have not elected decent officials to run their own country, but the people in Mexico need to return the government there to the hands of their citizens, and not drug cartels and corrupt officials. How might that be done? Should the countries of the world sponsor some sort of revolt? Mexico is high in natural resources, gold, silver, and Mexican citizens should be living a very good life there. Instead, they are leaving Mexico because of the problems in that country. When it is necessary to support the citizens of a country to help them revolt against corruption? The US has sponsored other revolts in various countries, and so why isn’t the world doing anything to help the desperate citizens of Mexico? Running away to another country isn’t the solution. The Mexican citizens need to take their country back.
May 12 at 8:07 pm | Bean
Not only is the Mexican gov’t (as well as many other corrupt and failing governments) the source of the problem, but the main reason we have people clamoring to get across the border, is to take advantage of the welfare state of this country. If we didn’t have the bloated entitlement problem here, people wouldn’t be so willing to come here because they would only get what they worked for. We, as a country, need to embrace the values of working for what you receive and relying on private charities to take care of those in need who can’t take care of themselves. Spreading the wealth to make sure everyone is taken care of programs do not work. People are not incentivized to work as hard or innovate when things are handed to them. I am not going to say there aren’t good, hard-working people here illegally but they still come here because their kids can get an education and they can show up at the emergency room and get free medical care. The list goes on and on. Their lives are not easy, nor were they in their other countries, but again, we need to do away with entitlements and allow private charities to take care of needy individuals here and abroad. From what I’ve seen of your website, Mr. Miller, you do espouse the ideals of freedom, responsibility, Constitutional government and rule of law. It’s only until we return to those ideals that we will see any change. I hope you can be an impetus in Congress to push our country back that direction, even though it will be a painful process.
May 14 at 9:02 pm | Steve Conroy
“We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…” Most people vaguely remember these words and few students know their origin. They are from THE document that protects and guides our nation and “allows” Americans to live a life of unparalleled freedom, practically nonexistent anywhere else on this planet. However, because we are not familiar with the 4,543 words in this original, unamended document, we are in jeopardy of losing our freedoms.
We are waging two wars in this country, a philosophical war over freedom or slavery, and a war over nationalism or individualism. The federal government is attempting to socialize our lives, and in the process, are bankrupting our nation. They are creating a climate of distrust between us as Americans and pushing us closer to “accepting” OUR total rule by the very few. We will, in essence, be slaves, working hard, and sending most of our earnings to the few as taxation. They are not protecting us from terrorists because one more major attack will give cause for the federal government to nationalize the police forces and turn us into a police state. The federal government is now challenging Arizona over state’s rights, also described in the document mentioned above. Who wins that fight will determine more about our Nation’s political future and destiny than anything.
The second battle is about being an AMERICAN. I am Irish and I celebrate St. Patty’s day. But I fly the American flag. Yes, I have a heritage and a nationality, but I AM AN American. We have criminals and terrorists in our country who are also attempting to undermine and destroy us from within. They are called Illegal aliens and they are called Muslim extremists. The 990,000 Illegals that crossed over in the past 3 years are not JUST Mexicans, because 30% of those caught crossing our Arizona border are other nationalities, including Muslim terrorists. Our Arizona prison populations increased these past years because of foreign criminals while other states’ prison populations declined. You are I are paying for their incarceration, not the federal government.
I believe in profiling “criminals” because that is the way you stop criminals before they can harm us. Once you have been burglarized or lost a loved one to murder, or had your wife or husband kidnapped, tortured and killed (as is happening in Phoenix today), you too will support profiling. Personally, if the police stop me and make me get out of my car, hand-cuff me and search me, I honestly admit I will be a bit afraid and upset. However, because I know they are doing their duty to protect my fellow citizens from “real” criminals, I will accept their actions because I AM an AMERICAN first. If you think your civil liberties are being threatened by the police, then wait until the real criminals and terrorists come to kill and rob you. This is not an abstract concept. This is the reality of living in Arizona in 2010.
We Americans are not against Arabs or against Mexicans or against any other race or nationality. We are an amalgamation of all who come to our country LEGALLY. We are against criminals and terrorists. If you do not become familiar with YOUR Constitution;, if you do not start fighting for your state’s rights; if you do not STOP supporting ILLEGALS and Muslim extremists; if you do not start to support our police and border patrol with their duties, you WILL see this Nation become another Greece or worse, another Hitler state.
Thank you.
May 23 at 2:40 pm | Wayne B
I don’t want a “robust, market-based, legal immigration system.” I would rather have Americans get those jobs.
If anything, it would be better to reduce legal immigration or leave it the same.
Jun 9 at 8:04 pm | Mike
Some things that should be done to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration:
1- Complete the border fence from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
2- Patrol the border with National Guard troops.
3- Provide UAV’s and other high tech sensing equiptment.
4- Require E-verify for all businesses in America and heavily fine those businesses that break the law; insentivize the reporting of businesses that break the law and are hiring illegals.
5- Have all states adopt the Arizona SB1070 law or build the AZ law into a Federal comprehensive immigration law.
6- Make english the official language of the United States
7- Clarify the 14th amendment to prevent anchor babies
Jun 23 at 7:24 pm | Carroll B. Merriman
Arizona got it right with its recent Immigration Law I used http://www.azimmigrationrights.org to let the politicians know they need to get it right all over.