In 2014, Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) may have saved the nation from a gigantic increase in legal and illegal immigration when he defeated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Primary election. Now, he is again trying to rescue the nation from the destructive inclinations of most congressional leaders.
All congressional Democratic leaders and most Republican leaders at this moment are acting like the most urgent immigration issue before them is how fast they can give an amnesty to around 3 million young-adult illegal aliens who call themselves "Dreamers." And how fast they can help those 3 million begin Chain Migration for millions more relatives.
To force those leaders to focus on another passion and to provide all of us a compilation of what we most want at this moment, Rep. Brat has just introduced H.R. 4340, the American LAWS Act. ("LAWS" stands for American Labor, Wages, and Sovereignty.)
Far more Americans are passionate about the goal of Brat's compilation bill -- MAJOR REDUCTIONS IN BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION -- than are passionate about yet another amnesty reward of lifetime work permits for illegal aliens. That's the message that has to break through to congressional leaders.
The BRAT THREE-IN-ONE SOLUTION
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The Brat bill takes the legislative language from several other bills that address parts of the three most important actions needed at this moment. But it was getting a little difficult to rally behind several bills at the same time.
Rep. Brat folds the three bills into a single bill that we can demand be addressed by U.S. House leaders as they consider what they are going to do about immigration.
Brat's bill is quite simple and does nothing more than combine three bill favorites into a single bill we all need to be rallying behind.
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Bill No. 1.
END CHAIN MIGRATION: H.R.1149, the Nuclear Family Priority Act, introduced by Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) on Feb. 16, 2017.
This bill would eliminate all Chain Migration and limit family migration to spouse and minor children. (The RAISE Act in the Senate does this, too.)
Bill No. 2.
END VISA LOTTERY: H.R.1178, the SAFE for America Act introduced by Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) on Feb. 16, 2017.
This bill would stop all raffling off of lifetime work permits to foreign citizens. (The RAISE Act in the Senate does this, too.)
Bill No. 3.
MANDATE E-VERIFY: H.R.3711, the Legal Workforce Act introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) on Sep. 8, 2017. (The Senate RAISE Act does NOT include this.)
Nearly every analysis of America's illegal immigration problem over the last 30 years has concluded that turning off the jobs magnet is the cheapest and most effective way to greatly reduce the illegal population in this country. This bill would do the most important thing to meet that goal by mandating that every employer in America use E-Verify. Rep. Lamar Smith is the man who has done more than any other over the last 30 years to minimize the harm from illegal immigration.
One beauty of E-Verify for those who are particularly concerned about privacy is that E-Verify does NOT create any new database or gather any information from workers that the government does not already have. The long-running voluntary system relies only on information in existing databases to protect American workers. It is full of safeguards that protect any American from mistakenly being disadvantaged by the system -- as proven over all these years of use.
Mandatory E-Verify is the most unobtrusive action that can be taken to make sure that only Americans and other legal workers can hold a U.S. job -- and to stop enticing millions of foreign citizens from illegally crossing our borders or overstaying their visitor visas.
The BRAT THREE-IN-ONE SOLUTION combats the rush to amnesty and gives us a new way to focus attention on our top priority -- greatly reducing the numbers of legal and illegal immigration.
ROY BECK is President & Founder of NumbersUSA
