Did you know that every year an estimated 3 to 5 million immigrants enter our country illegally? Did you know that there are anywhere from 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants living in our country? If you don’t, then you must be tuning out Republicans and listening to Democrats.
While Democrats squawk over how to pull our troops out of Iraq prematurely and devise ways to raise our taxes, our borders remain broken and our country’s immigration crisis remains unsolved. While the California economy takes a hit as illegal immigrants flow into the state, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have seemed remarkably silent on the issue.
The issue of illegal immigration is multifaceted and concerns our nation’s security, the economy and the state of our society. Our vulnerability to terrorists, drug dealers and criminals entering our country is greatly increased with porous borders. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform and the latest census data, costs for education, health care and incarceration for illegal immigrants bills California’s taxpayers about $10.5 billion per fiscal year.
A vast majority of illegal immigrants come to America seeking opportunities to work hard, support their families, and lead responsible lives. However, a small portion enter our country smuggling drugs into our cities and joining the ranks of gang members.
It may be worth noting that a successful party is one that is responsive to what a majority of the American public desires. According to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted last year, 67 percent of Americans favored controlling the borders and enforcing immigration laws first before continuing on with immigration reform.
While Democrats avoid debate on illegal immigration, the Republican Party has a set of candidates that provides diverse and solid solutions to securing the border, reducing illegal immigration, and enforcing existing immigration laws.
Rudy Giuliani would commit to building the rest of the 700-mile border fence that was authorized and appropriated by Congress in 2006.
Mitt Romney would implement a biometrically enabled and tamper-proof documentation and employment-verification system to ensure American employers do not hire illegal immigrants. Mike Huckabee supports crackdowns on sanctuary cities like Los Angeles to aid federal law enforcement.
John McCain takes a broader approach, emphasizing a need to develop strong economic partnerships with Mexico and Latin American countries to create economic stability in those countries. The Republican Party provides voters with the best options for border security.
Obama and Clinton can run their campaigns on the idea of “change,” and they can use the word as much as they please, but their unvaried stance on immigration shows them to be protectors of the status quo. Continuing to support failed comprehensive immigration reform legislation will be a disservice to the American people who have waited for decades for their government to fulfill the promise of border security.
The Republican Party pledges to counter Democrats’ immobility and misguidance on this issue with bold and innovative initiatives to secure our borders. There is no question the debate on immigration reform must continue, but by securing the borders first, Republicans will restore America’s faith in the rule of law and the federal government.
Rozelle is a Bruin Republicans board member. He is a second-year political science and history student.