Lamar Smith: “I support the passage of this bill. Additional funds for border security are always a step in the right direction, but…”

“I support the passage of this bill. Additional funds for border security are always a step in the right direction, but if the Democrats were serious about immigration enforcement, they would include more funds for interior enforcement. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it doesn't have enough resources to enforce our immigration laws, yet this bill contains no funds for work-site enforcement that is needed to protect jobs for citizens and legal immigrants. Last week, an illegal immigrant drunk driver killed a nun and critically injured two others. He had two earlier convictions for drunk driving. If ICE had sufficient funds for enforcement, this tragedy could have been avoided. In many ways, this bill represents an opportunity lost, and I regret that even though I support passage of the bill.”