Robert Wexler(D-FL) on illegals and the border

Wexler is generally one of the raving leftists in congress. However, he seems to be breaking ranks with the rest of the democrats on illegals and the border taking a very tough stance. I just received this email response from him (bolded sections were bolded in Wexler's response):

Thank you for contacting my office regarding your thoughts on immigration. I agree with you that immigration is one of the most critical problems Congress must address.

It is imperative that we actually learn from past policies and implement changes that make lasting, comprehensive changes instead of providing toothless sound bites that leave us with essentially the same broken system we have now. What we have now hurts everyone . The number of illegal immigrants hurts American workers who have to compete against artificially lower wages. It hurts the taxpayers who have to foot the bill for not only the cost of undocumented people using government services but also high-priced border security efforts that have not met their predicted goals. And, it is not fair for the many immigrants who try to enter our country legally.

First and foremost, Congress must repair our broken borders . I think the most important step Congress can take to reform immigration policy is to redouble our existing immigration and border security system. In the previous few years, Congress has enacted several pieces of legislation that dealt with enhancing immigration-related border security. While Congressional funding for border security has sharply increased over the past few years, this funding is not nearly adequate. Second, we must enforce the workplace laws that already exist to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants . Hiring illegal immigrants drives wages down for American workers and often puts those illegal workers in abusive working conditions. There is no reason that the laws already on the books cannot be used to stop this practice, and I will continue to speak out on this issue. And finally, we must take a responsible look at the serious shortcomings of our present system and make responsible, informed changes so that the legal immigration system operates efficiently.

Thank you again for taking the time to write. Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions you may have or anytime I may be of assistance to you. I hope you will find my website (www.wexler.house.gov) a valuable resource in keeping up with events in Washington and South Florida.

With warm regards,

Robert Wexler
Member of Congress