[StBernard] Strengthening Our Border Security and Reducing Illegal Immigration

[Westley Annis]

Dear  Friend,


	

Illegal immigration  remains an urgent issue facing our country, and I would
like to update you  about some recent actions I've taken to  confront this
problem.

	

Last month I coauthored and helped introduce the Secure  America through
Verification and Enforcement Act, which would implement a  three-point
approach to reducing illegal immigration based on the principle of
attrition through enforcement.  This principle is based on the premise  that
living illegally in the United States will become more difficult and less
satisfying over time when all levels of the government enforce the laws
already  on the books.

	

The first part of the  SAVE Act is focused on securing our borders. Under my
bill, we would hire 6,000  more Border Patrol agents to stop the flow of
illegal immigrants, and we would expand the use of new technology and
specialized enforcement programs such as the Tunnel Task Force.

	

The second part of  the bill would help to end unlawful employment by
strengthening the highly  successful Employment Verification Program, or
E-Verify.  E-Verify has  been shown to work 99.6 percent of the time  - an
astounding success rate - and the SAVE Act would permanently reauthorize  it
and require all employers to participate.

	

Finally, the SAVE Act  would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to
employ more agents and would  make grants available to local law enforcement
agencies.  It would also  help with the removal of illegal aliens by
expanding detention capacity and  increasing the number of immigration
judges to process immigration cases.

	

I will continue  fighting in the U.S. Senate for this and other  measures to
secure our borders and reduce  illegal immigration.


Sincerely,
David Vitter
U.S.  Senator