Bill Text: NJ SCR44 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Memorializes Congress to enact immigration policies that better serve the national interest.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-16 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [SCR44 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-SCR44-Introduced.html
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 44
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED JANUARY 16, 2014
Sponsored by:
Senator CHRISTOPHER J. CONNORS
District 9 (Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Memorializes Congress to enact immigration policies that better serve the national interest.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution memorializing the Congress of the United States to reform the nation's immigration policies to better serve the national interest.
Whereas, United States immigration policy was in need of a major reform prior to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks upon our nation; and
Whereas, Immigration policy reform has taken on new urgency beginning with the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and continuing with the threat of subsequent attacks; and
Whereas, Each nation has the sovereign right to determine immigration policy and the United States government has a responsibility to its citizens to end illegal immigration and to set legal immigration at a rate consistent with the nation's traditional level of immigration that has served our country well over the past 236 years; and
Whereas, The 2010 United States Census Bureau estimates the foreign-born population of the United States at 39,955,854 people (approximately 12.9 percent of the overall population in 2010) having increased by 31 percent over the past 10 years, while New Jersey's foreign-born population is estimated at 1,844,581 people (approximately 21 percent of the overall State population in 2010); and
Whereas, The legal and illegal immigrant population increased at a rate of approximately 1,000,000 people per year during the 2000s, and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics estimated the illegal alien population at 10,790,000 people in 2010, with New Jersey's illegal alien population estimated at 370,000 people; and
Whereas, Current United States immigration policy is undermining opportunities for America's poor and disadvantaged to improve their working conditions and wages; and
Whereas, Illegal and legal immigration into the United States is threatening America's foundation and the current immigration policy should be reformed to ensure that the United States knows the backgrounds of those admitted to this country, can enforce the terms of admission on immigrants, and that mechanisms for monitoring those who have been admitted are established; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):
1. The Congress of the United States is respectfully memorialized to enact legislation to: (1) return the nation to the traditional levels of immigration of about 300,000 people annually and require that these prospective immigrants have high moral character and a level of education that can benefit our country; (2) fully fund and encourage the "Illegal Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1986," which provides for training of state and local police in immigration law enforcement; (3) direct the Immigration and Naturalization Service to provide 24-hour database access to state and local law enforcement agencies so law enforcement personnel can easily ascertain the status of persons in their custody and immediately deport illegal aliens who have been arrested for criminal acts; (4) demand a comprehensive enforcement strategy from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to stop illegal aliens at the border; (5) increase the number of consular officers assigned to issuing visas, increase the scrutiny and background checks of each applicant to determine their legal status in real-time; (6) boost oversight of all student visa holders in the United States by requiring schools to report to the Immigration and Naturalization Service if the holder of the student visa does not begin course work; (7) bar entry to the United States of refugees, immigrants or visitors from nations known to pose a terrorist threat; (8) deny all federal funds to any city that obstructs immigration enforcement through ordinances that ban employees from contracting the Immigration and Naturalization Service if they know that a person is in the country illegally; and (9) pass a resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States so that the automatic birthright of citizenship privilege in the United States applies only for children of United States citizens and legal permanent residents.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this concurrent resolution shall be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and every member of Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This concurrent resolution would memorialize Congress to enact legislation reforming United States immigration policy by limiting the number of legal immigrants to 300,000 annually, training local law enforcement agencies on immigration laws, stopping illegal immigration at the border, increasing the scrutiny and background check levels of visa applicants, barring entry of refugees, immigrants and visitors from nations that pose a terrorist threat, and passing a resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States so that the automatic birthright of citizenship privilege in the United States applies only for children of United States citizens and legal permanent residents. Immigration policy reform is urgent given the threat of terrorist attacks upon our nation.
