Secure the Border. Fix the System. Restore the Rule of Law.
No reasonable person can deny the damage done by President Biden’s reckless border policies—policies fully supported by my opponent, Congresswoman Val Hoyle. Although the border has finally been secured, the consequences remain. Millions entered our country illegally, criminal cartels expanded their reach, and American communities were left carrying the human and financial costs of Washington’s failure.
We must never allow this to happen again.
America has spent enormous blood and treasure defending the borders of other nations. Securing our own is common sense and a fundamental responsibility of government. But border security alone does not resolve the larger problem created by decades of failed immigration policy.
We must secure the border, enforce the law, remove dangerous criminals—and finally create an immigration system that works.
Keep the Border Secure
As your Congresswoman, national security will remain my top priority. I will support an all-of-the-above approach to border security using physical barriers where appropriate, advanced sensors and drones, strong cybersecurity, and a properly staffed Border Patrol empowered to enforce the law.
I will work to close asylum loopholes, prevent the return of catch-and-release policies, and ensure that our laws never again create incentives for mass illegal entry.
Dismantle Cartels and Remove Dangerous Criminals
Drug and human trafficking cartels exploit vulnerable migrants and threaten communities across America—including here in Oregon’s 4th District.
I support using every appropriate federal law-enforcement, intelligence, financial, and national-security tool to dismantle these criminal networks.
Noncitizens who commit serious violent crimes, engage in human or major drug trafficking, participate in gang violence, or otherwise pose a serious threat to our communities, should be removed. State and local governments should cooperate with lawful federal efforts to keep dangerous offenders off our streets.
Create a Lawful Path for Long-Settled Residents
We also must honestly confront the reality created by decades of failure by the federal government.
Millions of undocumented people have lived in America for years—some for decades. Many work, pay taxes, raise families, operate businesses, and contribute to their communities. Indiscriminate mass deportation is neither a realistic nor constructive solution.
I support a one-time opportunity to earn lawful status for long-settled, non-criminal residents who meet strict requirements. They should be required to:
Those who qualify should be able to live and work here lawfully rather than remain indefinitely in the shadows.
This is not automatic citizenship. It is a path to lawful status with accountability.
And there must be a firm line going forward: those who enter our country illegally after this reform is enacted should not receive the same opportunity. This must be a solution to an inherited problem—not an incentive to create the next one.
Modernize and Streamline Legal Immigration
Law-abiding immigrants have suffered for too long under an immigration system that is slow, expensive, confusing, and badly outdated.
If we expect people to use the front door, the front door must work.
I will work to streamline lawful immigration, modernize processing and fraud detection, reduce unnecessary bureaucratic delays, and protect family unity. People who follow our laws and seek to immigrate legally should not be trapped for years in an inefficient and outdated system.
Create Legal Pathways for America’s Workforce
America needs workers, and our immigration laws should reflect our real economic needs. Here in Oregon, agriculture, forestry and wildfire management, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, and other critical industries depend on reliable access to workers when Americans are not available to fill those jobs.
I support legal, efficient workforce immigration pathways that allow employers to meet legitimate labor needs while ensuring workers are screened, authorized to work, and protected from exploitation. That includes sensible merit-based immigration and temporary-worker programs that respond to actual workforce shortages.
We should make it easier to hire workers legally—and harder to employ people illegally.
Fix the Asylum System
America should remain a refuge for people genuinely fleeing persecution. But our compassion cannot become an invitation for fraud or abuse.
I support a modern asylum system that allows claims to begin through secure processes before migrants make dangerous journeys to our border whenever possible, uses biometric and identity verification, rapidly screens fraudulent claims, and provides legitimate applicants with timely decisions.
Protect the truly persecuted. Discourage fraud. Restore order.
Require Employment Verification and Employer Accountability
Immigration reform will never succeed if our laws prohibit unauthorized employment while our system quietly tolerates it.
We need a fast, accurate national employment-verification system that allows employers to determine whether someone is legally authorized to work. Employers who follow the rules should be protected. Those who knowingly exploit illegal labor should be held accountable.
Qualifying workers already here should have an opportunity to come forward, undergo screening, and transition into lawful employment as part of the one-time reform.
A Front Door That Works—and a Back Door That Closes
Washington has spent decades presenting Americans with a false choice: tolerate illegal immigration or deport millions of people who have built lives here.
I reject that choice.
We can secure our border and treat people with humanity. We can enforce our laws and acknowledge the consequences of decades of government failure. We can remove dangerous criminals while giving long-settled, law-abiding people a rigorous opportunity to come into legal compliance.
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan captured the principle decades ago: those who should be admitted should get in, those who should be kept out should be kept out, and those who have no lawful basis to remain should be required to leave.
That remains the right standard.
Secure the border. Remove those who threaten us. Give long-settled, law-abiding people a rigorous way to get legal. Fix the front door. Close the back door. And never allow this crisis to happen again.
RELEVANT PRESS RELEASES:
Monique DeSpain Condemns Hoyle’s Vote Against Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act
Monique DeSpain Skewers Val Hoyle for Desperate Border Letter to Biden and Her Census Vote
DeSpain Scorches Val Hoyle for Vote Against Holding Criminal Illegal Immigrants Accountable
DeSpain Slams Incumbent Val Hoyle for Rubber Stamping Biden Border Disaster
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
American Sheriff Alliance Immigration and Border Security Priorities and Positions Sept 2024
National Sheriffs Association Opposes Senate Border Bill 02-06-2024