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Duncan Hunter on Immigration
"I don't think there's anything wrong with asking folks who come in illegally ... to go home. We deport thousands of people every month," said Hunter. "I don't see any other way to re-establish the currency of American law than to keep the law."
[Hunter] supported strict House immigration overhaul legislation that did not provide a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.
The idea that amnesty must be accepted in order to achieve secure and enforceable borders is absurd. The effort to provide citizenship benefits to millions of illegal immigrants failed -- not once, but twice. It is time that we abandon the concept of rewarding those who have broken our laws and take action to secure our borders and enforce existing immigration laws. This is what the American people have been demanding and this is what they deserve.
Hunter opposed the 2007 comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have established a “guest-worker” program, provided a path to citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA, beefed up border security and other provisions. Hunter said the bill would have rewarded “those who have broken our laws,” and compared it to giving amnesty.
Voted YES on the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexican border
"Here's what we tell them: It's the law. And you know, I built that border fence in San Diego. And it's really two fences. It's a double fence. It's not that scraggly little fence that they keep showing on CNN with people hopping over it. If you get over my fence, we sign you up for the Olympics immediately. Now, that fence is a double fence with a road in between, and it reduced the smuggling of people and drugs in San Diego by 90%. And that's the reason I wrote the law that extends it 854 miles across Arizona, New Mexico & Texas. They've only done 17.9 miles. As president, I will complete all 854 miles in six months. That's my commitment. It's the law."
"You have to build a border fence and you've got to have a real border. Not just for immigration issues, but also because of security issues. Right now, I wrote the law that extends that border fence 854 miles across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and California. We need to build a border fence...it's the law. And when people come to this country, they have to knock on the front door, because the back door is gonna be closed."
"The bill cuts my fence in half and when we passed this bill...it provides for 854 miles of double fence...you have to put that fence in place."
Over the years, Hunter forced significant increases in the number of Border Patrol (BP) agents, earmarked money for more detention facilities, wrote legislation to strip away all benefits for illegal aliens and punish "sanctuary cities", and in 2006, single-handedly penned the Secure Fence Act, a bill signed by President Bush to extend the San Diego double border fence through the smuggling corridors of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
HUNTER: Right. And, incidentally, Mitt Romney is wrong when he said that that fence does not stop people. And Mitt, on his best day, can't climb that double fence with the Border Patrol road in between. And we -- and by Border Patrol statistic, the fence in San Diego reduced the smuggling of people and drugs by more than 90 percent. So I don't know where he got this -- I think he wanted to get after Giuliani on the sanctuary cities and that was (INAUDIBLE)... Q: Well, he did that. And what did you think? Because, I, frankly, thought the former governor was absolutely correct... HUNTER: Yes. Q: ...about going after sanctuary cities. Don't you? HUNTER: Absolutely.
Over the years, Hunter forced significant increases in the number of Border Patrol (BP) agents, earmarked money for more detention facilities, wrote legislation to strip away all benefits for illegal aliens and punish 'sanctuary cities', and in 2006, single-handedly penned the Secure Fence Act, a bill signed by President Bush to extend the San Diego double border fence through the smuggling corridors of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Voted YES to prevent State and local governments who refuse to share information with Federal immigration authorities from obtaining Federal funds under the Homeland Security Appropriations Act.
Cosponsored H.R. 3938 which contains significant enforcement and border control measures. Among its many provisions to reduce illegal immigration are measures to: authorize the use of the military on the border; increase the number of CBP officers, ICE agents, and Border Patrol agents; eliminate birthright citizenship; expand expedited removal; require employers to verify the eligibility of all new hires
I think the fair thing to have for employers is to have an extension of this pilot program that we have right now ...is a system in which through a phone call...you can receive from the Department of Homeland Security in fairly short order a 'yes' or 'no' as to whether your employees are legally within the US. (We should) expand that program throughout the country - and I like the idea also of a tamperproof ID card. I think that's kind of an important thing.
MR. BLITZER: I see people raising their hands. But the question was, I'd only like those to speak up who believe that English should not necessarily be the official language of the United States. Is there anyone else who stands with Senator McCain specifically on that question? (Hunter does not respond)