Press Releases
Perry Votes to Strengthen Homeland Security, Block Unconstitutional Immigration Actions
Washington,
January 14, 2015
Last week, I took the Oath of Office to uphold the Constitution. Part of that oath is my commitment to a government founded on a system of checks and balances. Prior to taking his executive action on immigration last year, President Obama said that, “…the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case.” When Congress didn’t send him a bill that met his specific demands, he enacted his goals by edict. Even the Washington Post, not particularly the bastion of conservatism, said, “…it is increasingly clear that the sweeping magnitude of Mr. Obama’s order is unprecedented” and “...the scale of Mr. Obama’s move goes far beyond anything his predecessors attempted.” Today I voted in favor of legislation (H.R. 240) to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the remainder of the fiscal year, while barring the use of any funds to implement or enforce President Obama’s unconstitutional action on immigration. I did so as the proud grandson of a woman who legally immigrated from Colombia in search of greater freedom and opportunity for her family. On no issue before Congress is there a greater divide between the people we serve and the political and media elite than illegal immigration. My office receives more calls on this issue than any other. These people aren’t anti-immigration; they ask legitimate questions about how unchecked illegal immigration impacts jobs, schools, hospitals and national security – and they’re routinely mocked and have their character and motives questioned. Amnesty is blatantly unfair to the millions of people who waited - often for many years - to come here legally. Dozens of businesses and families have shown me how our current system forces them to confront a bloated bureaucracy that’s almost impossible to navigate. This bill pushes the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to focus its efforts on improving services for immigrants who seek to come to the United States legally. It also strengthens our homeland security by providing the largest customs and border protection force levels in history, includes around-the-clock surveillance of our border, bolsters cybersecurity, fully funds disaster relief efforts, and enhances efforts to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling. Our immigration system clearly is broken - but unilateral action by the President is not the right answer. The first step in any reform effort must be to secure our borders, and this bill begins that process. Once we’ve made significant progress on border security, we can work towards real, long-term solutions that strengthen and modernize the rest of our immigration system. |