America's Voice

COMPREHENSIVE REFORMER. On his campaign website, Teague devotes a large section to explaining his position on immigration. He says that he understands “that border issues aren’t as black and white as Washington makes them out to be.” Teague lists the following immigration priorities: increasing border security, providing a path to citizenship for undocumented workers, reforming immigration laws, and working with Mexico. Teague says he would fight “to strengthen our borders by tightening our security and reducing the amount of illegal immigration to our country.” Teague also believes that “the nation’s economy is dependent on undocumented immigrants” and that while they broke the law when entering the U.S., “the U.S. must find a way to include these individuals in our community so that they may come out of the shadows and have a real opportunity to join our society.” Teague also says that he would “work with federal agencies to streamline the process by which we accept immigrant applications in order to provide for a more efficient system that allows for an increased number of legal immigrants.” And finally, Teague says that the U.S. “must work with the Mexican government in order to build a strong, well-developed middle class in Mexico” and that he would “work with the governors of neighboring Mexican states to build a comprehensive plan for economic development in our immediate areas.” [Harry Teague for Congress, 8/18/08] In an interview, Teague stated, “Fencing the southern border is no answer to immigration, legal or illegal.… I think one of the first things we have to do is we have to build some immigration centers so we let the people in who have to come in, make it harder to come in illegally. Beef up the Border Patrol. Fix it where the people who come here for economic benefit are not mixed up with others.” [Deming Headlight, 5/28/08]