Issue Position: Immigration

Issue Position

Immigration must be controlled and sustainable. It should benefit America while protecting American workers and wages. Barry believes that the heart of our immigration problem is that we do not control our own borders and we do not enforce the laws that are already on the books.

Barry is opposed to legalization for those who have illegally entered or illegally reside in this country. We tried comprehensive legalization in 1986. We have proven that rewarding illegal immigration creates more illegal immigration.

The United States naturalizes about 1.2 million immigrants each year. This is more than any other nation in the world. Traditional levels of immigration are around 250,000 -- 300,000 per year.

Most illegal immigration is caused by illegal employment. Increased funding for and national implementation of the no-cost E-Verify system must be part of any effort to address illegal immigration that is costing Americans -- including legal immigrants -- jobs and wages.

Along with fixing the obvious border security crisis -- regardless of cost or resistance -- visa reform must be part of real immigration reform.

In 2012 about 600,000 visas were given to temporary workers and their families.

Estimates are that nearly half of the illegal aliens present in the U.S. today did not enter illegally -- they came on a visa. Ronald Reagan correctly note that "a nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation."

We must secure our borders and insure that visa holders actually leave when their visa expires. Many of the 9/11 terrorists were visa violators.

A real conservative who values the Rule of Law upon which the republic was founded, Barry believes that we are a nation of laws and that American immigration and employment laws must be enforced.

As a state legislator, Barry sponsored numerous bills and resolutions that prohibit public benefits from being provided to illegal immigrants. As a freshman legislator Barry passed House Bill 77, which, among other issues, prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining a Georgia Driver's License. He also introduced legislation that closed a loophole in the homestead exemption law that was allowing illegal aliens to benefit from the homestead tax exemption. Barry also co-authored several provisions of Senate Bill 529, which was the strongest illegal immigration legislation in the nation. In 2012, Barry sponsored SB 458, which, if passed, would have prevented illegal aliens from entry into our state colleges and universities.

Barry has signed the FAIR Pledge.

Source