House approves legislation that would end the border crisis, prevent new ones, and deter future illegal immigration by eliminating the jobs magnet

Dear NumbersUSA Members,

I am very pleased to report that your efforts have resulted in the House of Representatives having passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act!

This historic legislation is one of the toughest immigration enforcement bills ever passed by a chamber of Congress and is the first time either chamber has passed a bill that would require all employers to use the E-Verify system.

I want to highlight the important role that you, our NumbersUSA members, played in getting this bill passed. You made thousands of phone calls to BOTH Republican and Democrat Members alike who were on the fence. You sent tens of thousands of emails to the House of Representatives, urging them to support H.R. 2. Many of you posted support for the legislation on Social Media. And of course, we couldn't have done any of it without the financial support of our donors.

The bottom line is that this bill wouldn't have passed without the grass roots pressure from all of you.

Of particular note is that after a few tense days where the inclusion of mandatory E-Verify was in question, your efforts to tell your elected officials that it needed to be part of this comprehensive bill ensured that it was indeed included in the final legislation.

NumbersUSA firmly believes that mandatory E-Verify is the #1 deterrent to ongoing illegal immigration and visa overstays. By eliminating the jobs magnet, illegal aliens no longer have a financial incentive to enter and stay in the country. E-Verify makes the playing field level for all employers, makes compliance with U.S. law even easier for employers, and makes straightforward immigration enforcement against those employers who are violating federal law by hiring illegal workers.

H.R. 2, if passed by the Senate and then signed into law by the President and then enforced as all the Title 8 law should currently be enforced, would finally end the worst border crisis in history. We have more work to be done together to get to that point and the urgency could not be greater.

Today illegal immigration outpaces legal immigration by 3-1 with than 3 million illegal border crossers and visa overstayers being released into communities across the country. That's in addition to our already historically high legal immigration levels of more than 1.1 million per year. Yes, you are doing the math correctly. Over 4 million immigrants are surging into the United States every year the last 2 years. H.R. 2 stops the abuses of parole and asylum that are at the heart of the welcoming card that this administration has held out to the world encouraging this border surge. It also ensures that this and future administrations can be held accountable to enforce the immigration laws as intended.

In addition, our Capitol Hill Team says H.R. 2:

• closes all the loopholes that have tied the hands of the Border Patrol and prevented them from quickly removing economic migrants;
• takes our generous asylum system from the brink of collapse and preserves it for those who truly fear persecution and need protection they cannot find elsewhere;
• ends catch-and-release by requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain asylum seekers (as required by current law) pending expedited adjudication, returns them to a safe third country to await adjudication, or removes them to their home country if they do not face persecution;
• assures that family units will be kept together throughout the process; and
• disincentives the exploitation and abuse of children by reforming the law governing unaccompanied alien children (UACs) to ensure that these children can be quickly reunited with their families, rather than being turned over to sex or labor traffickers.

I tell my team that "winning" is plural. You have to win and keep winning before you can win a campaign or a war. This month, the House passed H.R. 2. The next battle is at the Senate coupled with the ongoing battle to have the current laws of Title 8 enforced as they were intended to be.

Campaigns to win take on many battles and are executed on many fronts. As such, NumbersUSA has also been "taking it to the states" with E-Verify and WINNING. Last week the Florida State Legislature passed legislation that requires employers with 25 or more employees to use E-Verify and Governor DeSantis has signed that into law. Win!

On another state front, NumbersUSA has been engaged with members of both the Senate and the House in the State of Texas. This week the Texas Senate is poised to pass its version of a mandatory E-Verify bill and the Texas House has a companion that will be making its way to a vote as well.

We are making a difference together. We are winning back ground that was lost. Win in H.R. 2. Win in Florida. Winning is plural and we are building momentum with WINS.

Congratulations again on your effective activism. Your voice being heard by those who represent you matters and it makes a different.

Thank you for all of your support and activism that led to today's victory. Onward and upward. Celebrate today. Tomorrow we prepare for more wins.

JAMES MASSA NUMBERSUSA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER