Immigration and the Rule of Law

Our party is the natural home for those who come in search of freedom
and justice. We welcome all to the Great Opportunity Party.
The greatest asset of the American economy is the American worker. Our
immigration system must protect American working families and their
wages, for citizens and legal immigrants alike, in a way that will improve
the economy. Just as immigrant labor helped build our country in the past,
todays legal immigrants are making vital contributions in every aspect of
national life. Their industry and commitment to American values
strengthens our economy, enriches our culture, and enables us to better
understand and more effectively compete with the rest of the world.
We are particularly grateful to the thousands of new legal immigrants,
many of them not yet citizens, who are serving in the Armed Forces
and among first responders. Their patriotism should encourage all to
embrace the newcomers legally among us, assist their journey to full
citizenship, and help their communities avoid isolation from the
mainstream of society. We are also thankful for the many legal immigrants
who continue to contribute to American society. To that end, we both
encourage the preservation of heritage tongues and support English as the
nations official language, a unifying force essential for the advancement of
immigrant communities and our nation as a whole.
Americas immigration policy must serve the national interest of the
United States, and the interests of American workers must be protected
over the claims of foreign nationals seeking the same jobs. With all our
fellow citizens, we have watched, in anger and disgust, the mocking of our
immigration laws by a president who made himself superior to the will of
the nation. We stand with the victims of his policies, especially the families
of murdered innocents. Illegal immigration endangers everyone, exploits the
taxpayers, and insults all who aspire to enter America legally. We oppose
any form of amnesty for those who, by breaking the law, have disadvantaged
those who have obeyed it. The executive amnesties of 2012 and 2014 are a
direct violation of federal law and usurp the powers of Congress as
outlined in Article I of the Constitution. These unlawful amnesties must be
immediately rescinded by a Republican president. In a time of terrorism, drug

cartels, human trafficking, and criminal gangs, the presence of millions of

unidentified individuals in this country poses grave risks to the safety and
sovereignty of the United States. Our highest priority, therefore, must be to
secure our borders and all ports of entry and to enforce our immigration
laws.
That is why we support building a wall along our southern border and
protecting all ports of entry. The border wall must cover the entirety of
the southern border and must be sufficient to stop both vehicular and
pedestrian traffic. We insist upon workplace enforcement of verification
systems so that more jobs can be available to all legal workers. Use of
the E-verify program an internet-based system that verifies the
employment authorization and identity of employees must be made
mandatory nationwide. We reaffirm our endorsement of the SAVE program
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements to ensure that public
funds are not given to persons not legally present in this country. We
demand tough penalties against those who engage in identity theft, deal in
fraudulent documents, and traffic in human beings. The Department of
Homeland Security must use its authority to keep dangerous aliens off our
streets and to expedite expulsion of criminal aliens. Gang membership
should be a deportable offense. Any previously deported illegal alien who
continues to show a lack of respect for our borders and rule of law must
be penalized. This is why we support stiffer penalties, such as a
mandatory minimum sentence of five years, for any illegal alien who
illegally re-enters our nation after already having been deported.
Because sanctuary cities violate federal law and endanger their own
citizens, they should not be eligible for federal funding. Using state licenses
to reward people in the country illegally is an affront to the rule of law and
must be halted.
In light of both current needs and historic practice, we urge the reform
of our guest worker programs to eliminate fraud, improve efficiency and
ensure they serve the national interest. In light of the alarming levels of
unemployment and underemployment in this country, it is indefensible to
continue offering lawful permanent residence to more than one million
foreign nationals every year. The Supreme Court has correctly recognized
that states have the constitutional authority to take steps to reduce illegal

immigration. We condemn the Obama Administrations lawsuits against

states that are seeking to reinforce federal law. We support the right of the
states to enact laws deterring illegal aliens from residing within their states.
From its beginning, our country has been a haven of refuge and
asylum. That should continue
but with major changes. Asylum should be limited to cases of political,
ethnic or religious persecution. As the Director of the FBI has noted, it is
not possible to vet fully all potential refugees. To ensure our national
security, refugees who cannot be carefully vetted cannot be admitted to
the country, especially those whose homelands have been the breeding
grounds for terrorism.