Immigration
America is a nation of immigrants and we all share the dream of a better life in the country we love.
Today’s immigration laws do not reflect our values or serve our security, and I will work for real reform. The solution is not to establish a massive new status of second-class workers, which betrays our values and hurts all working people. Undocumented immigrants within our borders who clear a background check, work hard and pay taxes should have a path to earn full participation in America. I will work to extend the promise of citizenship to those still struggling for freedom.
We must address the root cause of illegal immigration and enforce against employers who knowingly hire illegal labor and encourage lawbreakers.
We must punish employers who recruit undocumented workers in order to exploit them.
As your congressman I will:
• Support family reunification for parents and children, husbands and wives, and offer more English-language and civic education classes so immigrants can assume all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
• Support reforming the INS to provide better services, and investing the resources needed to reduce the backlog of citizenship applications from nearly two years to a couple of months.
• Support increased resources for English language courses, which not only help newcomers learn our common language but also help us promote our common values.
As we undertake these steps, I will work with our neighbors to strengthen our security so we are safer from those who would come here to harm us.
