America is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants have helped America grow as a country. They are the heart and soul of our nation. Immigrants are not new here. What is "new" is the Biden-Harris administration's disregard for immigration law. The U.S. needs to return to safe, fair, and legal immigration as soon as possible to preserve our communities, our ways of life, and to defend citizens at risk from dangerous and violent undocumented immigrants and criminals.

 

I visited the southern border three times in the last year and each time was shocked by the chaos. There is zero distinction between what this administration calls immigration and human trafficking. The border is like a chapter in a dystopian novel. Drug gangs and cartels run rampant, having only grown in power and prosperity through open access to our country and cities. As cartels have become more powerful, this has cost our people: Drug overdose deaths are up 30% year on year, with opioids a factor in seven out of 10 deaths. In New Jersey, the annual number of drug overdose deaths topped 2,800. This is too much.

 

Cartels are costing American lives through not just drugs, but human trafficking as well. Men, women, and children are sold, bartered, and transported like cattle. Sometimes they are tortured, prostituted, or forced into gangs like the MS-13. It is not an exaggeration to say cartels own our border operations, and increasingly our cities through crime. Our current administration is aiding and abetting the gangs and cartels, not to mention participating in its own human smuggling operations. Background checks are next to nil, and people transported in the dead of night without any coordination with cities or states. 

 

As your Congressman, I will demand the border be closed until law and order is restored. I will demand accountability and transparency from the executive branch. Months ago, there were media reports about the flights - run by Federal agencies - unloading illegal immigrants in the middle of the night in New York. Coincidentally, the New York City Council voted on a bill that would've make it legal for non-citizens to vote in local elections! [18] As part of the Greater NYC area, Central New Jersey's can't turn a blind eye anymore. Whereas cartels trade people for dollars, Democrat officials are complicity in trafficking people for future votes.

 

We need to re-establish clear legal immigration procedures soon. We must demand safe, secure borders to protect our country and our communities. We must demand accountability for practices that degrade human beings, whether documented or not. We have to hold government up to better standards that this; one that holds every life sacred and not just grist for votes or dollars. This will be one of my guiding principles as your Congressman in the 12th district of New Jersey. 

 

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