Rep. Diane Black said Wednesday her plan to make illegal border crossings a felony offense rather than a misdemeanor would stop people from being willing to break the law while entering the United States.
"One of those big disincentives would be now to know this is a felony not a misdemeanor," the Tennessee Republican told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"If you have a felony and you try then to come back into the country through legal means, you will not be able to get a green card. So, we want to disincentivize people from coming to begin with."
The bill would also require verifying immigrants' statuses when they are trying to find work, said Black, which would prove to be another disincentive.
The bill also calls for refusing funding for sanctuary cities, and instead giving that money to the Border Patrol and to Immigration and Custom Enforcement, 'where we need more money going to help them patrol the border," said Black.
Black said it's important to remain strong on the stance against illegal immigration, even with the protests against a zero-tolerance policy.
"I have been strong on this for years and years," she said. "I have had more — I have had a lot of legislation starting with the Smart Border Act many years ago. We know that it's so hard to get things passed here that are comprehensive.
"And that's the reason why I believe that this is really something that's pretty simple. We can all agree that we need to have a secure border, and a part of doing that is to hold people accountable."
Black said her bill will be filed on Wednesday, and she thinks it will get some support because it's a simple measure.
"We are compassionate people but also a people that want to secure our country and make sure that we can say who is coming here and why," said Black.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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