This Immigration Plan is Common Sense

Harry Truman said it's amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. Once again, I have signed onto legislation authored by Heath Shuler, a North Carolina Democrat. I'm not interested in who gets credit for helping stop illegal immigration, I just want it stopped.

The SAVE Act would increase the number of border patrol agents. There isn't any question that the first thing we need to do on illegal immigration is secure the border. Where a fence has been built, it has dramatically reduced illegal immigration because it creates a defined area for our agents to patrol.

The SAVE Act also expands the use of E-Verify to provide employers with an inexpensive, quick, and accurate way to verify employee eligibility. It would require information sharing between the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.

We need to give employers the tools they need to know for sure whether they are hiring someone who is legally able to work in this country. Too many employers want to do the right thing, but do not have the tools.

The final provision would increase the resources used to process illegal immigrants and give local officials more training. It also would increase the number of Federal judges to expedite the removal of illegal immigrants. Giving them a court date and expecting them to show up just doesn't work.

Washington should take these common sense steps to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into our country today.

# # #