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Dear Friends,
Since coming to Congress, I have fought for common-sense policies to ensure the safety of those within Arkansas and our nation. This includes both securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. In the House, we have had a number of successes, and I appreciate this opportunity to provide you with this update.
Over the past two years, I have made three trips to our Southern Border in El Paso, Texas, Laredo, Texas, and San Ysidro, California. I observed the terrain and vulnerabilities along the border and met with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, as well as local law enforcement personnel, U.S. officials, and mayors. We discussed manpower shortages, physical infrastructure requirements like border walls and fencing, and the need for an effective customs system to process goods and get visitors through border points quickly.
With this in mind, I was proud to support a government funding bill that was signed into law on May 5, 2017. This law makes recruiting customs agents and border patrol officers easier and faster, and we see that this bill is already having a direct effect on the safety of Americans.
We also recently passed a national security spending bill that included $1.6 billion for border security. This funding will be used for procurement, construction, and improvements along our southern border, and I'm proud of our work to give agents the tools they need because when our borders aren't secure, we aren't safe.
Finally, we recently passed the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, which sends a clear message to illegal aliens with a criminal past that they will no longer be afforded safe havens in the United States. This bill would prevent select federal grant funding for cities that fail to cooperate with federal enforcement of immigration law. Simply put, basic cooperation between the state, local, and federal law enforcement is a fundamental tenant of our civil society. The federal laws on immigration must be enforced, and providing a safe haven for individuals that break our laws cannot be accepted. Throughout the country, cities have affronted our federal immigration laws at taxpayer expense, and Congress is holding them accountable.
I remain committed to fixing our broken immigration system by securing our borders, enforcing our laws, and supporting legal immigration. I will continue to work with our House and Senate leadership and the president on these important issues.
Sincerely,
Representative French Hill |
The Centers for Youth and Family serves thousands of children and families every year by providing specialized prevention, intervention, and treatment services, which helps promote emotional and social wellness. As you see, they gave me a great welcome, and we discussed their important work and what health care and mental health care policies are critical to their positive outcomes.
What an honor to pitch in and pack nutritious lunches for kids accompanying their parents to medical visits. The Sack Lunch Program is a joint effort between the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and I am proud of the difference they are making in the lives of our central Arkansas families.
So far in August, we have had two Veterans Advisory Council meetings – in Perryville and in Conway. I always appreciate the opportunity to discuss how my staff and I are working to make sure our veterans get the care and benefits they deserve. At Foot Roots in Little Rock, we had an extensive round table discussion about the challenges facing veterans, including access to mental health services and increasing the number of medical and social work professionals.
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