Op-Ed by Congresswoman, Martha McSally representing Arizona’s 2nd District
Tucson, AZ - Most Americans agree the president overreached with his executive actions on immigration, and, for once, all three branches of government actually seem to agree. Congress, the courts and even the president himself (22 times) say that he did not have the authority to take such actions.
Pass immigration reform now that he has defied even his own logic. The president's actions should be reversed, but not by withholding funding from the men and women who put their lives on the line to keep our country safe. The president overstepped his bounds by taking on the policy-making role of Congress, so the best action Congress can take is to do its job. That means securing our border and revamping our legal immigration system so it aligns with our economic needs.
I represent a district in Southern Arizona that contains nearly 85 miles of our border with Mexico. The district also is home to thousands of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees and their families, including approximately 1,075 Border Patrol agents.
The role these men and women play in protecting our communities is invaluable. They patrol our borders and monitor our ports to stop drugs, weapons and money from moving into our communities. They track cartel members and dangerous criminals who have come into our country illegally and they are one of our last lines of defense against terror attacks on our homeland.
* * * * * * * *
In a separate release, Congresswoman McSally was appointed this week to a bipartisan task force assigned to develop solutions to increase U.S. security against the risk of foreign terrorists. The Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel is comprised of 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats and will meet with top government officials and security experts to evaluate the U.S. government’s efforts to prevent foreign fighters from traveling to the U.S. and develop legislative recommendations to increase U.S. security.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to use my experience overseeing counter-terrorism operations to help improve our nation’s security measures,” said Rep. McSally. “We face unprecedented threats from Islamist terrorist groups abroad, who control vast amounts of ungoverned territory and have a growing ability to reach and recruit foreign fighters – many of whom have Western passports. We have to make sure we have a strategy in place to prevent these fighters from traveling to the U.S. to carry out attacks, and I look forward to reviewing what programs are in place and working with my colleagues to enhance our security.”
“It’s critical that we continue to provide robust oversight of the Administration’s security measures in the face of the growing threat of foreign fighters, and there may be nobody more qualified for that task than Rep. McSally,” said Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Michael McCaul. “Her experience leading oversight of counter-terrorism missions will be a great asset to the task force and we look forward to seeing the recommendations she and her colleagues put forth.”
Experts estimate that the total number of foreign fighters to join Sunni Islamist groups in Iraq and Syria exceeds 20,000, making the Syria and Iraq conflict the largest mobilization of foreign fighters in history. Over 4,000 fighters are estimated to come from Western Europe, where many countries have preferred visa status that allows their citizens to travel to the U.S without going through the visa acquisition process.
Prior to her retirement from the Air Force, Rep. McSally was handpicked as part of the initial leadership team tasked to stand up U.S. Africa Command and went on to lead oversight of counter-terrorism missions for the continent of Africa. She is a member of the Homeland Security Committee and chairs the subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications.