Congress needs to come together to fix broken border security, immigration system

It’s an unfortunate reality of our current political system that problems usually don’t get fixed until they near crisis proportions. And that’s what we’re approaching with our badly broken immigration system: a crisis.

Our border security is failing. Our legal immigration system is not optimized to allow in immigrants who want to build businesses, create jobs, or fill high-skill positions. And we have nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants living here illegally.

No more kicking the can down the road. It’s time to address this crisis before it gets even worse.

President-elect Donald Trump has identified immigration reform as one of the first priorities his administration will address. We need Congress to follow his lead and actually implement solutions.

Border security is about more than building a wall. We need to increase investment in personnel and technology. Protecting our homeland is Job One for our federal government, and it’s time we take that responsibility seriously.

Second, we have got to reform our legal immigration system. The best and brightest students around the world flock to U.S. universities to complete their education. When they’re done, they want to stay here to start businesses or put their skills to work. But we send most of them home due to our exceedingly difficult immigration system.

High-skilled professionals from other countries who have job opportunities in the United States find it nearly impossible to relocate here. The irony is that our country has a demand for doctors, engineers, scientists, and other high-skilled workers—but that demand is unmet due to self-inflicted immigration restrictions.

  Finally we have got to address the 11 million immigrants living in our country illegally. It’s time for our country to create a pathway to citizenship for those illegals if they pass a criminal background check, pay a fine, and wait through a probationary period. 

Continuing to ignore this problem is not a solution. Nor can we allow illegals to remain without some consequences.

  There is no doubt that our broken immigration system is holding our economy back and preventing the creation of new jobs. That’s why fixing what’s broken in that system is a huge economic opportunity for our country. 

  This election proved one thing: This country is ready for bold solutions to the problems that have been hanging around for years. Let’s use that momentum for good by coming together to fix immigration — legal and illegal alike.

The polling shows that three-quarters of Americans indicate they want immigration reform. The President is for it, the people are for it — now it’s time for our Congressional delegation to work together to accomplish real reform. 

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Rep. Wendy McKamey, R-Great Falls, represents House District 23 in Cascade County.