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Rep. Poe Pushes for Lower Immigration Levels and Increased Border Security

author Published by Chris Chmielenski

Congressman (and former judge) Ted Poe addressed the need for an Immigration Suspension during his opening statement at the Congressional Forum two weeks ago. Poe spoke of the impact that immigration has on the American taxpayer and rising federal deficits.

Poe made it clear that allowing both illegal and legal foreign workers into the country while “there are currently 15 million Americans out of work” is bad policy. Poe mostly discussed the need for the United States to increase its border security, which he described as worse than that of third world countries, to prevent illegal aliens from entering the country and doing jobs “Americans won’t do.”

Poe also asked witness Roy Beck of NumbersUSA if there is justification for bringing ANY foreign workers into the country during this kind of unemployment.  Beck answered that the only excuse is if the foreign worker is (a) the husband or wife of a U.S. citizen, (b) a person with an international-level skill superior to at least 95% of the Americans with that skill, or (c) an internationally recognized special needs refugee who is part of the U.S. fair share of settlements.

Here are Rep. Poe’s opening remarks:

America continues to find itself in the midst of an economic downturn. Unemployment continues to rise and there are currently 15 million Americans out of work. This is the highest number ever in the history of the United States. Just in the month of October, 190,000 jobs were eliminated somewhere in the United States. And on top of these dark numbers, the deficit continues to get higher and higher.

We spent nearly a trillion dollars on the stimulus, and yet 2,800,000 jobs have been lost since this bill passed. Now some say we need to spend another trillion on a government run health care system. Yet nothing has been done to address a problem that continues to raise the deficit and increase unemployment, and of course, this is about illegal immigration.

Americans are hurting and we can no longer afford to delay. The question is where are the jobs for Americans, not where are the jobs for illegals. We’ve heard for years under this administration and the previous administration that illegals are doing jobs that Americans won’t do. I think that is insulting to the American worker. I find it personally insulting to me and my family.

Despite rising unemployment numbers and deficits, the administration refuses to take steps to secure the border and stop people from coming into the United States without permission of the American government. No country on Earth has the poor border security system that the United States has. Third world countries protect their borders better than we do. But yet here we are, the superpower of the world, and we continue to have open borders and allow people to come in here without verifying who they are.

We know the reasons why people want to come to the United States, and not everyone coming to the United States is looking for work. We’re getting a lot of the good, bad and the ugly, and right now, we’re getting a lot of the bad and the ugly.

The only way to solve this is to make sure that everyone who comes into this country for whatever reason comes here with permission of the United States. When an illegal arrives in a hospital in this country without insurance and needs medical attention, of course that person is treated. We have universal health care coverage for people that are in the country illegally. But somebody pays and that happens to be the U.S. taxpayer.

When an illegal immigrant commits a crime, the victim pays. The criminal justice system pays out to house that individual when they go to the jails or the penitentiaries.

When an illegal immigrant without car insurance causes a collision on an interstate or a highway all of the innocent people on their way to work or to pick up their kids from school, they pay. They pay for physical damage and they also pay out-of-pocket expenses. We all pay higher insurance rates and many of those rate rises are to pay for the uninsured. And many of those uninsured people are in the country illegally supposedly doing jobs that Americans won’t do.

When a meatpacking plant decides to pay low wages to illegal immigrants, when a business chooses to pay on the cash economy, and no one is paying taxes, the American taxpayer pays. This continues to go on and on and the cost of having illegals in the country is high even during the best of economic times.

Some have argued that the economic problems we’re having now will solve the illegal immigration issue without need for intervention because many illegal immigrants will just go home. I don’t think that’s the case. I think now while we have the opportunity and we’ve had this opportunity for decades, we must address the issue and put the American worker first, even those jobs that are now American policy that Americans won’t do and we turn over to those illegally in the country. I think that philosophy is absurd. We need to control the borders, control the people that are coming into the United States and who work in the United States without the permission of the United States government.

When it comes to what’s best for the American people or what’s best for the illegal worker, I think we should come down on the side of the American worker.

— Rep. Ted Poe

You can also watch the video of Rep. Poe’s opening statement thanks to the Center for Immigration Studies.

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