We have a right as a sovereign nation not only to protect our own borders, but to make sure the American people are not exposed to extraordinary danger that might occur if criminals are given a free ride, inadvertently, in this bill.
I don’t believe the authors of this bill intended that felons, persons who were guilty of three successive misdemeanors, people who are under final orders of deportation or criminal absconders should receive
amnesty. I do not actually believe the authors of this bill intended to grant an amnesty or to forgive those crimes or to welcome those people into the United States. I believe these individuals, by virtue of the crimes they have committed, should not be accepted into the United States–and we certainly have a right to control who comes and who does not come, and I think these people have disqualified themselves by virtue of their criminal activity.