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Emergency Immigration Workload Reduction and Homeland Security Enhancement Act of 2005

Date: April 27, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Immigration


EMERGENCY IMMIGRATION WORKLOAD REDUCTION AND HOMELAND SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2005 -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 27, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. SAM GRAVES
OF MISSOURI
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005

Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today still afraid for our nation's security. Not because of terror alerts, but because our borders remain porous. The enforcement of our immigration policy is impotent, resulting in a continued flood of illegal immigrants across our borders.

It is time for the federal government to stop letting unchecked mass immigration undermine the wages, safety, and benefits in one occupation after another. It is time for the federal government to moderate immigration and to treat American workers, citizen and immigrant, with the respect they deserve.

Our constituents did not elect us to help cheapen the quality of their lives by importing foreign workers at six to eight times the historical average. There is no getting around the fact that when we cheapen labor with unchecked illegal immigration, we cheapen our neighbors, both citizens and immigrants alike.

Today, I introduce the Emergency Immigration Workload Reduction and Homeland Security Enhancement Act of 2005. This legislation would suspend certain nonessential visas in order to provide temporary workload reduction critical to the success of the immigration component of the recently established Department of Homeland Security. These suspensions would be lifted following the certification by Secretary of Homeland Security to Congress that specific conditions ensuring the department's ability to carry out its enforcement responsibilities have been met.

Zealous enforcement of our immigration laws is a critical first step; however, Congress must look at the root causes of our policy flaws. In this era of global terrorism, we must re-evaluate our immigration policy and close these outstanding loopholes to give the Department of Homeland Security the tools it needs to protect our soil.

I call on my colleagues to join me in working to reform our immigration policies and to halt the cheapening of America's citizen and immigrant workers. Without real immigration reform, our borders will not be safe and our citizens will be at risk.

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