Robin Smith for Congress: Immigration Reform That Starts with Secure Borders

Immigration Laws That Work
Our nation’s system of protecting our borders and treating both legal immigrants as well as Americans with dignity is broken.

Decades of “reforms” have left our immigration system a confused mess. The result discourages legal immigration into the United States by forcing applicants to wait in line for years and encourages illegal entry across our borders. In Tennessee, the major processing center for our state is located in Memphis, fully six hours away from some of our citizens in the Third District. Willing parents looking to adopt children from overseas must endure this travel and a bureaucratic nightmare simply to be united with a deserving child.

Today, the Washington solution is more “reform” that will add more regulation onto a broken system. Put simply, you can’t build a new house on a rotten foundation. I support a full top-to-bottom review of the system and a complete overhaul that respects both our laws and human dignity.

The first step that must take place to solve this issue is true enforcement of our borders by a government that does more than talk about the problem. Once our borders are secure, we can address the flaws in our immigration system.

I commit to you that I will not support, under any circumstances, reform that contains amnesty for those who enter the United States illegally.

For years, Americans, regardless of our party, have been asking the federal government to perform its most basic and necessary function: protect the nation. And for years there has been bipartisan failure to adequately address the issue. Sadly, Republicans and Democrats alike have turned a deaf ear to our calls.

In order to deal with the immigration issue, there is one unquestioned first step: secure the borders. We’ve heard enough about fences, virtual fences, cameras and even spy planes flying overhead. Every American knows we have the tools to secure the border. What we don’t have are leaders with the will to take action. Instead they talk around the issue and float the wrong idea of amnesty for those who have come here illegally.

Throughout history our nation has been strengthened and our culture enriched by the orderly regulated administration of immigration to the United States. Today, the systems that are charged with controlling immigration have broken down and failed in their responsibility. Until we elect men and women to Congress who will not falter in the face of political correctness, the problem will get worse.