And as a member
of the Homeland Security Committee, the issues being debated and voted
on this week are an area of critical importance when it comes to
keeping our Nation and our people safe. Mr. Speaker, we are a nation of immigrants. I am the grandson of
Irish immigrants. We are also a nation of laws. Both must be respected
and honored by all of us. Left, right, or center, we can all agree that
our immigration system is broken, and given that broken status, it is
the responsibility of this body to fix it. This goal cannot be achieved
by selectively choosing which laws we enforce and which laws we ignore. As a former FBI agent, I worked each day to keep Americans and keep
our Nation safe. And as a Federal prosecutor, I prosecuted cases that
resulted in the removal of violent felons who were in our country
illegally in order to keep our communities safe. I have seen firsthand the threats our Nation faces from a fragmented
and broken immigration system and a porous border. We cannot and must
not allow partisanship to prevent sensible fixes from being
implemented. Our Nation's security depends on us.
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants