The House's Immigration Amnesty Bill Shortsighted

This week the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6, Speaker Pelosi's immigration amnesty bill.

The bill does nothing to address the ongoing humanitarian and national security crisis along our southern border, nor does it do a thing to stem the flow of illegal immigration and human trafficking.

I've always said any immigration reform proposal must begin with securing our borders. So the fact that H.R. 6 offers exactly $0 for border security is reason enough to oppose it. But what's in the bill may be as bad as what's missing.

The reality is H.R. 6 makes millions of illegal immigrants eligible for amnesty, allows convicted criminals to obtain a green card, and even bars immigration officials from using state or federal gang databases to prevent gang members from obtaining green cards. The bill even creates a special pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants that is not available to people trying to immigrate legally! The Congressional Budget Office says all of this will cost $35 billion.

With apprehensions on the border surging, the last thing Congress ought to do is incentivize more illegal crossings by offering mass amnesty. I voted against H.R. 6 and hope the Senate will not waste time on this short-sighted, partisan legislation.

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