Give DREAMers a path to citizenship rather than deportation
Q: What, if any, steps will you take to reform current immigration policies, including the DACA program?
Ann Kirkpatrick: I am a strong advocate for the DREAM Act, which offers a chance at
the American dream to undocumented young people who were brought to this country as children and are now working hard, playing by the rules and helping to strengthen our communities.
DACA recipients should have a pathway to citizenship rather than fear deportation. I support policies that keep families together and rejects the
Trump Administration's agenda of building a wall and targeting productive working people for deportation.
Screening process for refugees from Iraq & Syria ok as-is
Ballotpedia.org analysis of Congressional voting record on immigration issues: Rep. Kirkpatrick voted NAY on November 19, 2015, when the House passed HR 4038 - the American SAFE Act of 2015 by a vote of 289-137.
The bill proposes instituting a stronger screening process for refugees from Iraq and Syria who apply for admission to the US. Rep. Kirkpatrick voted with 134 Democrats and two Republicans against the bill.
Source: Ballotpedia.org coverage of Syrian Refugee crisis
, Nov 19, 2015
Greatly strengthen border security; install a Smart Fence
Our immigration system is broken and requires comprehensive reform. We need to greatly strengthen the security along our border. I support providing the Border Patrol with the resources and technology it requires to secure
our borders, both north and south. I support a high tech �Smart Fence� where it makes sense, which combines new technology and Border personnel to keep our country secure.
Source: 2008 House campaign website, kirkpatrickforarizona.com
, Nov 4, 2008
Voted to legalize DREAMer immigrants via military service.
Kirkpatrick voted NAY Gosar Anti-DACA Amendment to H.R. 5293
Congressional Summary: The House voted on an amendment by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to H.R. 5293, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2017. The amendment would prohibit funds from being used to extend the expiration of, or reissue a new expiration date to, the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program.
Recommendation by Heritage Foundation to vote YES:(6/16/2016): The MAVNI program is a pilot program authorizing `military services to recruit certain legal immigrants whose skills are considered to be vital to the national interest.` However, a DoD memo has made it clear that DACA/DAPA recipients are eligible under this program, essentially opening up a pathway to amnesty for illegal aliens who enlist. By ensuring that this guidance ends, DOD will no longer be able to enlist illegal immigrants through MAVNI.
Recommendation by the ACLU to vote NO: (6/28/2011):
The DREAM Act promotes fundamental fairness for young people by allowing access to affordable post-secondary education and military service opportunities, regardless of immigration status, and would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, have lived here for at least five years and have graduated from high school. The DREAM Act could result in billions of dollars in additional tax revenue from tapping the potential of DREAM-eligible students and future service personnel. Since September 11, 2001, more than 69,000 immigrants have earned citizenship while serving, and more than 125 who entered military service after that date have made the ultimate sacrifice in war by giving their lives for this nation.
Legislative outcome: Failed House 210 to 211 (no Senate vote)
Source: Congressional vote 16-H5293 on Jun 16, 2016
Increase both high-skill and family-based visa caps.
Kirkpatrick co-sponsored the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act
Legislative Summary:This bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China. The bill also establishes transition rules for employment-based visas from FY2020-FY2022, by reserving a percentage of EB-2 (workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability), EB-3 (skilled and other workers), and EB-5 (investors) visas for individuals not from the two countries with the largest number of recipients of such visas. Of the unreserved visas, not more than 85% shall be allotted to immigrants from any single country.
Explanation from the Countable.US: Under the current immigration system, immigrants from any one country can claim no more than 7% of the 140,000 employment-based green cards issued annually to foreign nationals working
in the U.S. This significantly disadvantages immigrants from larger countries that more immigrants come from.
For example, China (population 1.3 billion) and India have large backlogs of workers wishing to immigrate to and work in the U.S., but they have the name visa caps as countries such as Iceland or Estonia (population 1.3 million), which have both much smaller populations and far fewer citizens seeking to immigrate to the U.S.
The net effect of this is that immigrants from India and China can face decades-long waits, averaging 2-3 times the wait times for immigrants from other countries, for green cards, and many have to return home because they can`t get permanent residency; meanwhile, countries such as Iceland and Estonia never come close to reaching their visa limit caps.
Legislative outcome Roll call 437 in House on 7/10/2019 passed 365-65-2; referred to Committee in Senate 7/9/2019; no action as of 1/1/2020.
To authorize additional resources for the Department of Homeland Security to enhance security activities along the international border with Mexico. Expand border security operations along the southwest border, including the southbound inspection and investigation of vehicles, to reduce the potential for border violence; enhance border security; and prevent the illicit flow of arms and bulk cash across such southwest border; by appropriating $70,000,000 to:
increase southbound border security infrastructure and inspection capabilities at ports of entry located on the southwest border between the US and Mexico;
acquire and deploy at least two x-ray mobile inspection units to such southwest border;
acquire and deploy at least ten dual detection canine teams to such southwest border;
equip with license plate readers the outbound lanes at ports of entry located on such southwest border;
acquire and equip
US Customs and Border Protection personnel with body armor;
take any other related actions to expand border security operations on such southwest border.
hire and deploy at least 100 additional US Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel to be assigned to Border Enforcement Security Taskforce (BEST) units involved in efforts to reduce southwest border violence over the number of such personnel so assigned as of the date of the enactment of this Act;
improve existing Border Enforcement Security Taskforce facilities and acquire new space for Border Enforcement Security Taskforce units along such southwest border locations; and
increase resources and personnel for Operation Armas Cruzadas over the resources obligated and personnel so assigned as of the date of the enactment of this Act
Sponsored bill to disallow religion-based immigration ban.
Kirkpatrick co-sponsored NO BAN Act
The National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act (NO BAN Act) imposes limitations on the President`s authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the US. It also prohibits religious discrimination in various immigration-related decisions, such as issuing a visa. The President may temporarily restrict the entry of any class of aliens after determining that the restriction would address specific and credible facts that threaten U.S. interests such as security or public safety.
GovTrack.us analysis (4/21/21): President Donald Trump instituted a travel ban on eight countries: Chad, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. The Supreme Court upheld the travel ban 5-4 in the 2018 decision�Trump v. Hawaii. Trump`s travel ban was popularly nicknamed `the Muslim ban` by its Democratic critics since most of the countries it applied to were majority Muslim, and because Trump as a 2016 candidate had indeed proposed a Muslim ban.
Regardless, President Joe Biden rescinded the policy on his first day in office. Currently, federal law bans any person from being discriminated against when entering the U.S. on the basis of five characteristics: race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence. The NO BAN Act would add another category: religion.
Rep. Tom McClintock in OPPOSITION: President Trump invoked this authority against countries that were hotbeds of international terrorism and that were not cooperating with the US in providing basic information about travelers coming from these countries. The left called it a `Muslim ban.` What nonsense. Without this authority, the president would have been powerless to take simple, prudent precautions against terrorists and criminals from entering the US.
Legislative Outcome: Passed House 218-208-3 on April 21, 2021, rollcall #127; introduced in Senate with 42 co-sponsors but no further Senate action during 2021.