house CLOSES NUMEROUS IMMIGRATION LOOPHOLES; passes strict border-security bills
WASHINGTON - U.S. Congressman Steve King is fighting to strengthen the nation's borders and close loopholes that result in failed immigration policies. This week, King urged his colleagues to support a number of bills to reform immigration policies.
The House Thursday passed H.R. 6094, the Community Protection Act of 2006 and H.R. 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006. H.R. 6094 would end the current "catch and release" of dangerous criminal aliens, allow government officials to remove criminal aliens and bar alien violent gang members from receiving asylum or temporary protected status, mandate their detention and render them deportable.
The Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006 would allow local law enforcement to investigate, identify, arrest and detain illegal aliens. In many communities, local law enforcement is barred from complying with federal immigration law. H.R. 6095 would also urge uniform guidelines for prosecution of human smugglers and end "catch and release" of certain foreign nationals due to old injunctions.
The House also passed H.R. 4830, the Border Tunnel Prevention Act of 2006, to save human lives by criminalizing construction of unauthorized tunnels across a U.S. international border.
"These are common-sense reforms and a huge advance for immigration reform," said King. "This is what Americans have been calling for. We are removing the loopholes that have plagued our immigration laws for decades, and putting the components in place to control our porous borders."
In addition this week, the House passed the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006, H.R. 4844, to preserve the integrity of the American voting process and prevent voter fraud by requiring voters to present a federal or state government issued, current and valid photo identification. The Federal Election Integrity Act would establish a uniform, national standard for voting eligibility with respect to photo identification and proof of citizenship, eliminating the potential for confusion in the current state-by-state approach.
"It's common sense that only American citizens should be voting in U.S. elections. That is the way the system was intended and it is what the American people put their faith in," said King. "Citizens must use an ID to board a plane or cash a check; we should have the same standard for voting."
The bills must now be passed by the Senate and signed by the President to become law.
Last week, the House passed a bill to construct a 700-mile border barrier. King serves on the House Judiciary Committee, Immigration Subcommittee and the House Immigration Reform Caucus.
