The American people have given Congress a clear mandate on immigration. The latest Harvard/Harris poll found that 80 percent of voters now support deporting illegal aliens who have committed crimes — including 90 percent of Republicans, 79 percent of Independents, and 71 percent of Democrats. A 56 percent majority supports removing every illegal alien in the country. This is no longer a partisan issue, and you have the chance to turn that mandate into lasting law.

H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, is how we lock in the progress we have made. It would codify border security permanently — strengthening asylum standards, criminalizing visa overstays, and mandating nationwide E-Verify so that a stolen Social Security number can no longer be used to take an American’s job. Mandatory E-Verify is the centerpiece: it shuts off the jobs magnet that draws illegal labor, defends American wages, and multiplies the reach of our enforcement agencies.

We cannot afford to rely on executive action that the next administration could erase with the stroke of a pen. Every month H.R. 2 sits unfinished is another month these gains remain vulnerable. We need your leadership now more than ever — please do everything in your power to move H.R. 2 with its mandatory E-Verify mandate through Congress without delay, while the opportunity is still in front of us.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Sent to:
Congressional Republicans