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Mark Kennedy on ImmigrationFormer Republican Representative (MN-6, 2001-2007) |
KLOBUCHAR: I believe we need to have order. We need to have adequate border controls, the fence, & no amnesty for companies hiring illegal immigrants; as well as earned citizenship.
KENNEDY: Ms. Klobuchar came out first for a bill that had nothing in there for a fence. I [didn't agree with that bill] that we should give a veto right to Mexico to control our border.
KLOBUCHAR: For 6 years, this Congressman and this Congress had the ability to do something about immigration. We need comprehensive immigration reform. It hasn't happened. The Fargo Forum debunked his claims on my stands on immigration, and said they were distorted and not true.
KENNEDY: We have passed 700-mile fencing along the border. I believe that good fences make good neighbors. We've doubled the border patrol; we've ended catch-and-release. We have more to do, but it begins with a conviction that a country that can't control its own borders can't control its own security.
Proponents support voting YES because:
It is obvious there is no more defining issue in our Nation today than stopping illegal immigration. The most basic obligation of any government is to secure the Nation's borders. One issue in which there appears to be a consensus between the Senate and the House is on the issue of building a secure fence. So rather than wait until comprehensive legislation is enacted, we should move forward on targeted legislation which is effective and meaningful. The legislation today provides over 700 miles of two-layered reinforced fencing, and for the rest of the border provides a virtual fence, via integrated surveillance technology.
Opponents support voting NO because:
Just to build the fence is going to cost us at least $7 billion. Where is the money coming from to pay for it? How much is it going to cost to maintain this 700-mile fence? Who is going to do it? This bill contains no funding.
This bill also ignores real enforcement measures, like hiring more Border Patrol personnel, and instead builds a Berlin Wall on our southern border. So long as employers need workers in this country, and while our immigration systems impede rather than facilitate timely access of willing workers to those opportunities, undocumented immigration will never be controlled.
Walls, barriers, and military patrols will only force those immigrants to utilize ever more dangerous routes and increase the number of people who die in search of an opportunity to feed and clothe their families.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a national, non-profit, public interest membership organization of concerned citizens united by their belief in the need for immigration reform. Founded in 1979, FAIR believes that the U.S. can and must have an immigration policy that is non-discriminatory and designed to serve the environmental, economic, and social needs of our country.
FAIR seeks to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest—more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year.
With more than 70,000 members nationwide, FAIR is a non-partisan group whose membership runs the gamut from liberal to conservative.
The ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.
