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Bob Barr on Immigration

Immigration is quickly becoming one of the most talked about domestic issues in this presidential election. How to not only deal with immigration policy going forward but how to address illegal immigrants that currently live in the United States has become an emotional and vibrant debate. This topic includes information about candidate positions on the US-Mexico border fence, federal funding for sanctuary cities, and methods for dealing with illegal immigrants currently in the United States.

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Bob Barr opposes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants

“Both I and the Libertarian Party believe very strongly that we ought to allow full and fair and lawfully robust immigration into this country. If a person wishes to enter the U.S. for a lawful purpose, they ought to be allowed to do so, be it tourism, working, or school…. But they have to enter through a lawful border checkpoint or port of entry, they present valid identification so we can assure ourselves that they do not pose a security risk to this country, and they submit to a communicable disease [test].”

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In 2001, Barr co-sponsored H.R. 190, a bill to declare that babies born in the United States to mothers without American citizenship “shall be considered as born subject to the jurisdiction of that foreign country and not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States…and shall therefore not be a citizen of the United States or of any State solely by reason of birth in the United States.

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Voted YES on the Immigration Act of 1995 HR 2202: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve deterrence of illegal immigration to the United States by increasing border patrol and investigative personnel, by increasing penalties for alien smuggling and for document fraud, by reforming exclusion and deportation law and procedures, by improving the verification system for eligibility for employment, and through other measures, to reform the legal immigration system and facilitate legal entries into the United States, and for other purposes.

Bill Number: HR 2202, Date: 03/21/1996

"You set a mechanism internally to determine who is here. And if you catch folks that are here unlawfully, and do not submit themselves to a background check that those coming into this country are going to be required to do, then you send them back to their country."

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Bob Barr is neutral on a temporary guest worker program

Voted NO on the Nonimmigrant Specialty Workers bill to Increases the maximum number of visas for skilled workers from 65,000 to 115,000 by 2000 and reduces maximum back down to 107,500 in 2001 and 65,000 by 2002

Bill Number: HR 3736, Date: 09/24/1998

Barr voted YES on the Pombo Amendment to H.R.2202. The Amendment worked to support a new program that would have allowed agri-business to import up to 250,000 foreign farm workers each year for a period of service of less than a year.

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Bob Barr supports the construction of a fence along the US and Mexico border

Voted YES on the Immigration Act of 1995 to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve deterrence of illegal immigration to the United States by increasing border patrol and investigative personnel, by increasing penalties for alien smuggling and for document fraud, by reforming exclusion and deportation law and procedures, by improving the verification system for eligibility for employment, and through other measures, to reform the legal immigration system and facilitate legal entries into the United States, and for other purposes.The bill waives environmental laws in order to complete the 14 mile section of border fence between the US and Mexico near San Diego

Bill Number: HR 2202, Date: 03/21/1996

Bob Barr supports cutting federal funding to sanctuary cities that don't enforce immigration law

"Cities that actively impede the enforcement of federal immigration laws should be subject to penalties and punishment, such as decreasing the amount of federal aid the city receives, especially if these funds are knowingly used to subsidize programs benefiting those who are in this country illegally."

Campaign Response (9/2/08)

Bob Barr supports mandating that employers check their workers' immigration status

Rep. Barr voted AGAINST the Chabot Amendment to H.R.2202. His vote was one in favor of setting up voluntary pilot programs in high-immigration states that would assist employers in verifying whether people they had just hired had the legal right to work in this country. The verification system established by H.R.2202 did not involve an ID card. Rather it provided that when new workers wrote down their Social Security number on an application, employers could phone into a national verification system to help assure that the number was a real number and belonged to the person giving it.

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Bob Barr strongly supports English as the official national language

Barr sponsored a bill declaring English the official language of the US.

English Language Empowerment Act (H.R.123) 99-HR0123 on Jan 6, 1999