Jane Harman: “the people of my district have been sending a strong message since the day I first took office: Stop illegal…”

“the people of my district have been sending a strong message since the day I first took office: Stop illegal immigration. I have been listening carefully. I was a member of the bipartisan House task force on immigration which made many of the recommendations on which H.R. 2202 is based. That's why I rise today in support of H.R. 2202, which will give the Federal Government the tools necessary to take control of illegal immigration. The long history of this issue demonstrates that we cannot stop illegal immigration without firmer controls on our borders. The bill before us does so. It gives the Border Patrol the resources necessary to cut down illegal border crossings by adding 5,000 new agents by the end of the century. It also equips Border Patrol officers with the equipment and technology they need to stem the flow of illegal entrants and to outfox the increasingly sophisticated alien smuggling rings which bring thousands of illegal aliens to our country each year. H.R. 2202 also gives the Immigration and Naturalization Service new tools to identify and deport the large proportion of illegal aliens who come here legally but brazenly overstay their visas in order to obtain American jobs.”