Among the top priorities for this Congress and the administration have been resolving America's illegal immigration crisis and securing our borders. Due to years of lax enforcement, nearly 11 million illegal aliens now reside in the United States, and misguided efforts to ignore and even reward those who have broken our immigration laws have created serious problems for our economy, the safety of our communities and our national security.  

In an effort to help address the growing crisis, I helped lead the passage of the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act and Kate’s Law to provide more tools to fight so-called “sanctuary city” policies and impose harsher penalties for illegal immigrants who are repeat offenders. To address the problem at the source, the 115th Congress appropriated the largest increase for border security technologies and infrastructure in more than a decade.

Illegal immigration is also having serious negative consequences for the U.S. economy and has led to substantial abuses in government assistance programs. That is why I introduced legislation reforming our asylum laws to prevent fraud and abuse of the system. America is a truly compassionate nation, and this bill reflects our values by repairing our broken system while still providing lifesaving protection to people legitimately fleeing violence and persecution.

I have already supported many initiatives to ensure our lawful path to citizenship is respected and followed by future immigrants, and I will continue to advocate for policies that further secure our borders and halt illegal immigration.