Securing America's Border with Mexico Must Come First

Do not buy into the currently popular immigration reform proposals. Before any kind of immigration reform is passed, Americans must be convinced that our southern border is secure. Karl Rove lays out the positions of Republicans in the Senate today in The Wall Street Journal.

Leading Senate Republicans (including Jeff Flake, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio) support a pathway to citizenship, but only if the border is first secured. Even Republican senators publicly arguing against a pathway recognize it is in their interest to play down that issue and focus instead on possible weaknesses in the bill’s border-security provisions or adverse economic impact.

Since immigration reform was last considered in 2007, Americans have become more insistent on securing the border while also becoming more supportive of a path to citizenship and more immigration of high-skilled workers.