[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 67 (Monday, May 4, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H5069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ENFORCE IMMIGRATION LAWS

  (Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, when Arizona Governor Janet 
Napolitano was nominated to be Homeland Security Secretary, her record 
showed that she often opposed enforcing immigration laws. So it's not 
entirely a surprise that she recently told CNN's John King that 
illegally ``crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil.''
  That's just plain wrong.
  It is a violation of the criminal code to enter our country 
illegally. The law has been in effect for decades, and it has been 
codified in its current form since 1991.
  The Obama administration apparently doesn't intend to enforce some of 
our immigration laws. There are numerous examples, such as delays in 
implementing a requirement that Federal contractors use E-Verify to 
ensure that illegal immigrants don't get Federal jobs.
  It's hard to believe that this administration is not only weak when 
it comes to enforcing immigration laws, but also ignorant of 
immigration laws themselves.

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