Political Quotes

“Last week, immigration agents arrested 120 illegal workers at a worksite in Colorado within 1 mile of global surveillance and a missile early-warning facility. Most likely, they came to America to find jobs. But if any had sinister intentions, only a fence separated them from a critical military facility. Most immigrants come to America with good intentions, but not all of them. Intelligence reports show that al-Qaida considers our borders a vulnerability. Imagine how terrorists might exploit a 1,951-mile border with Mexico. We are a Nation of immigrants, but we are also a Nation of laws and principles. Any attempt to halt the influx of illegal immigrants must respect that fact. The comprehensive immigration reform legislation the Senate passed in May struck a careful balance. We took a three-pronged approach: fortify our borders, strengthen worksite enforcement, and develop a fair and realistic way to address the 12 million people already in our country illegally, without offering amnesty. Clearly, we won't reach an agreement on comprehensive immigration reform before we leave for the recess, but fortifying our borders is an integral component of national security. We cannot afford to wait until November to do that. We know what works. We built a 14-mile fence near San Diego and saw illegal immigration in the area drop dramatically. We deployed 6,000 National Guard troops to our southwest border and saw a 45 percent drop in border apprehension.”