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More than 30 million immigrants have settled in the United States since 1970. Now our cities, schools, health care systems, labor markets, and environment all need a break. We cannot provide high quality education, health care, and retirement security for our own people if we continue to bring in endless numbers of poor, unskilled immigrants.

Current immigration levels are so high that immigration officials are unable to thoroughly screen
immigrants before allowing them into the country-as
September 11, 2001 tragically underscored. Just as one
would shut off the main water valve before attempting
to fix a leaky pipe, the U.S. needs to turn off the
flow while we repair a dysfunctional policy.

Stopping most forms of immigration temporarily would allow us time to devise an immigration policy that truly meets national needs. It would also allow us to concentrate on stopping the massive illegal immigration problem and regaining control of our borders.

These cards are used almost exclusively by illegal
aliens. Legal residents can obtain driver's licenses
and other U.S.-issued ID, while visitors from Mexico
can use a passport to identify themselves. U.S. immigration authorities have said the Matricula
Consular is virtually worthless as an identity
document. The documents people use to apply for these
cards are easily counterfeited. In fact, people have
been apprehended in possession of numerous cards with
multiple identities.

Honoring these cards puts the state in a position of
aiding people who may be violation of federal
immigration laws.

Currently, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (BICE) has only 2,000 interior enforcement
agents dedicated to enforcing immigration law and
locating some 400,000 illegal aliens with standing
deportation orders. Of those, 80,000 are criminal aliens
and 15,000 are of national security interest. The
federal government does not have the resources or
manpower to track these and other illegal aliens down
and deport them.

The federal government does not have the resources or
manpower to track down and deport the 8 to 11 million
illegal aliens currently living in the U.S. Of these,
400,000 have standing deportation orders, 80,000 are
criminal aliens, and 15,000 may pose a national
security risk.