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Secure the Border to Protect American Interests (Ted Cruz's OpEd)
Conservative Review ^ | November 20th, 2015 | Ted Cruz

Posted on 11/20/2015 5:36:05 PM PST by Isara

Last week I introduced a bold immigration plan to secure the border, restore the rule of law, and reform legal immigration in a way that protects Americans. My plan safeguards Americans’ jobs and fortifies our national security. Just hours after I announced the plan, the need to secure the border became all the more evident as ISIS coordinated multiple, gruesome attacks on Paris and Beirut.

I have stood with millions of Americans who understand the dangers of a porous national border, the foolhardiness of President Obama’s amnesty, and the lunacy of accepting tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Americans see the crushing economic consequences of low-skill labor flooding our job market every day.  But the atrocities in Paris and Beirut spur us to fight even harder to protect not only American workers, but also vital national security interests.

The American people are tired of living in a country with the lowest work-force participation since the Carter Administration. The Obama administration is currently enabling those here illegally to live and work in the shadows, which endangers illegal immigrants and harms Americans, especially low-wage earners. To avoid this, we must put in place a strong E-Verify system to uphold the law and stop allowing companies to deduct illegal immigrants’ salaries as a business expense, and we must prevent illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer-funded government benefits. When it comes to visas, we must stop enticing those who come legally to overstay their visas indefinitely. An estimated 40 percent of illegal immigrants currently in the United States originally came legally, but are overstaying their visas. That’s wrong; it’s an abuse of America’s generosity, and it’s hurting American workers. 

It’s time to enforce the border and the law, fully implement a biometric entry-exit system, and make sure those who come to the United States are not putting Americans at a disadvantage. I will halt any increase in legal immigration so long as American unemployment remains unacceptably high. Additionally, with numerous reports of companies like Disney and Toys ‘R’ Us using the H-1B program to replace American workers with cheap labor, I will suspend all H-1B visas for 180 days to investigate and audit allegations of abuse. 

A Cruz administration will put American interests first, not only in the marketplace but also on the international stage.  For the past six and a half years, we have suffered the consequences of living under an Obama-Clinton foreign policy of leading from behind. And as we witnessed the utter barbarism descend upon Paris and Beirut, it is not lost on Americans that President Obama’s strategy of appeasement has emboldened our enemies. 

President Obama may be tired of war, but our enemies are not tired of trying to kill Americans and others who represent freedom. ISIS plans to come to America. We must be vigilant in defending the United States’ interests, and that starts with blocking those seeking to hurt Americans from reaching our soil.  

A porous border tempts terrorists to set foot in our homeland. A lax visa entry-exit system invites enemies—like the 9/11 hijackers—to hide in our communities.  More than 340 “sanctuary cities” and jurisdictions lure murderers and crooks to roam our streets. And a leader who refuses to enforce the rule of law creates a void that criminals and evildoers are eager to fill, as we have witnessed again and again on the world stage.

In an era when Radical Islamic terrorists spew their hatred of Christianity and Western Civilization, we cannot afford to allow thousands of unknown Syrians to flood our borders without assurance that not a one of them is intent on harming Americans. Congress should act immediately to prevent President Obama from making us more vulnerable, and I have sent a letter to top Obama officials asking them to detail to the American people how exactly they are verifying that of the tens of thousands of incoming refugees none has ties to ISIS or other terror groups. They have not answered the question because they cannot; as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service official Matthew Emrich told Sen. Sessions, there is no computer database ready to identify potential radicals among the refugees.

In order to protect our citizens from this threat, I have introduced the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act, which bars refugees from entering the United States who are coming from countries such as Syria and Iraq that are actively controlled by terrorist organizations. The bill provides one narrow exception for those who prove that they are victims of genocide and undergo the highest level of security screening. 

In 2017, if I am elected president, I will focus any future refugee relief on those being systematically persecuted for their faith and will guard against national security threats. In addition to my detailed immigration plan, in order to guard against acts of terrorism, I have introduced the Expatriate Terrorist Act, which makes joining or fighting for ISIS a surrender of American citizenship. Additionally, in order to shield citizens from violent illegal criminals, I have also introduced Kate’s Law to impose mandatory five-year minimum sentencing on illegal criminals who re-enter the United States. As president, I intend to sign both bills into law. I will secure the border once and for all, and make it impossible for anyone, including and especially those who seek to do harm, to enter or remain here illegally. 

It’s past time to secure the border, to make the law mean what it says, and to ensure that our own immigration system does not open the door to economic hardship, crime, or terrorism. We know how to strengthen our immigration system and how to once again put American interests first. We simply lack the political will to get it done. As president, I will not waste a day. I will immediately rescind all of the Obama administration’s lawless executive actions on immigration. I will stop Obama’s amnesty. I will restore the rule of law. And I will dedicate time and resources to protecting Americans’ jobs and security. 


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aliens; americaninterests; bordersecurity; corporatewelfare; cruz; cruz2016; elections; h1b; securetheborders; tcruz; tedcruz
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To: Isara

I will secure the border once and for all, and make it impossible for anyone, including and especially those who seek to do harm, to enter or remain here illegally.

I guess this means a wall and deport all illegals?


21 posted on 11/22/2015 9:23:51 AM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: American Constitutionalist

Mega Fail - Reuters Tries Another Attack Approach On Trump: “Trump’s companies have sought visas to import at least 1,100 worker” (Over 15 years)

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/08/01/mega-fail-reuters-tries-another-attack-approach-on-trump-trumps-companies-have-sought-visas-to-import-at-least-1100-workers-over-15-years/

1100 / 13= 73 H-2B visas per year

H-2B = seasonal non-agricultural


22 posted on 11/22/2015 9:45:23 AM PST by khelus
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