IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 499 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Administration 
should rigorously enforce the laws of the United States to substantially 
reduce illegal immigration and greatly improve border security. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2007 
Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself and Mr. KING of New York) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judici-
ary, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services and Home-
land Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Administration should rigorously enforce the laws 
of the United States to substantially reduce illegal immi-
gration and greatly improve border security. 
Whereas the President of the United States has the primary 
authority to employ Federal Government resources to en-
force immigration laws; 
Whereas forty percent of the estimated twelve to twenty mil-
lion illegal immigrants currently in the United States 
have overstayed their non-immigrant visas; 
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•HRES 499 IH 
Whereas the implementation of the United States Visitor and 
Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (U.S.–VISIT) 
program would ensure that the Federal Government 
knows whether people who entered the country on a 
short-term visa return home; 
Whereas the U.S. Treasury Department decision to allow fi-
nancial institutions to accept the Mexican matricula con-
sular card as valid identification for the purpose of open-
ing bank accounts encourages illegal immigrants to stay 
in the United States; 
Whereas Federal Bureau of Investigation officials have testi-
fied under oath that the matricula consular card ‘‘is not 
a reliable form of identification, due to the non-existence 
of any means of verifying the true identity of the card 
holder’’ and because the card is so vulnerable to fraud 
and forgery ‘‘there are two major criminal threats posed 
by the cards, and one potential terrorist threat’’; 
Whereas this and previous Administrations have failed to en-
force the legally binding affidavits of support that spon-
sors of immigrants sign; 
Whereas the lack of such enforcement lets immigrants know 
they can wrongfully take advantage of government bene-
fits paid for by American taxpayers; 
Whereas ninety-eight percent of illegal immigrants arrested 
along the U.S.-Mexico border between 2000 and 2005 
were simply released across the border without prosecu-
tion, and many were caught and released multiple times; 
Whereas such a catch and return without prosecution policy 
encourages illegal immigrants to keep trying to enter ille-
gally and creates a revolving door of illegal immigration; 
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•HRES 499 IH 
Whereas this and previous Administrations have largely ig-
nored laws enacted as part of the Immigration Reform 
and Control Act of 1986 that impose fines on businesses 
that employ illegal workers; 
Whereas in 2004, the Administration did not issue any final 
orders to employers for hiring illegal immigrants; 
Whereas in 2005, the Administration issued only 10 such 
final orders; 
Whereas not enforcing employer sanctions encourages the hir-
ing of illegal immigrants and the easy availability of jobs 
acts as a magnet that attracts illegal immigrants; 
Whereas neither the United States Department of Homeland 
Security nor the United States Department of Justice 
has filed suit to stop any of the ten states that allow col-
leges and universities to offer in-state tuition rates to ille-
gal immigrants in violation of section 505 of the ‘‘Illegal 
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 
of 1996’’; 
Whereas such a policy unfairly burdens U.S. citizens because 
there are fewer places for legal residents in those colleges 
or universities and out-of-state students pay more than il-
legal immigrants; 
Whereas in some judicial jurisdictions alien smugglers must 
be caught smuggling at least twelve illegal immigrants 
before they will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Of-
fice; 
Whereas such a policy acts as an incentive for smugglers to 
continue their trade as long as they do not breach the ar-
bitrary threshold for prosecution; 
Whereas there are currently only 13,500 Border Patrol 
agents, which is 1,306 less than the number Congress re-
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•HRES 499 IH 
quired be in place by the end of FY 2007 in the ‘‘Intel-
ligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004’’; 
Whereas more Border Patrol agents will help ensure effective 
control of the U.S-Mexico border; 
Whereas there are currently only 27,500 detention beds for 
holding illegal immigrants which is 15,944 less than the 
number Congress required be in use by the end of FY 
2007 in the ‘‘Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Preven-
tion Act of 2004’’; 
Whereas additional detention beds will help ensure that all 
criminal aliens and individuals apprehended while cross-
ing the border illegally are detained prior to prosecution 
and deportation; 
Whereas there are currently only 5,571 Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement investigators, which is less than 
the number Congress required be in place by the end of 
FY 2007 in the ‘‘Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Pre-
vention Act of 2004’’; 
Whereas additional investigators will help ensure that suffi-
cient worksite enforcement is performed to impose em-
ployer sanctions on those who hire illegal immigrants; 
Whereas Congress passed and the President signed the ‘‘Se-
cure Fence Act of 2006’’ requiring more than 700 miles 
of fencing to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border; 
Whereas as of June 5, 2007, only 87 miles of fencing exists 
even though such fencing helps deter illegal border cross-
ing; 
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security may use ex-
pedited removal procedures for any illegal immigrants 
who have not been admitted or paroled into the United 
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•HRES 499 IH 
States and who have not affirmatively shown that they 
have been inside the United States for two years; 
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security only uses ex-
pedited removal procedures for illegal immigrants who 
are apprehended within 100 miles of the U.S. border and 
within 14 days of entry to the United States even though 
wider use of expedited removal would help decrease the 
number of appeals of removal orders which clog the Fed-
eral court system; and 
Whereas the current illegal immigration crisis is a direct re-
sult of this and previous Administrations failing to en-
force or adequately enforce at least eight immigration 
laws passed by Congress and enacted by the current and 
former Administrations: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) the Administration should— 
(A) implement the entry and exit portions 
of the United States Visitor and Immigrant 
Status Indicator Technology program (U.S.– 
VISIT), as required by the Illegal Immigration 
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 
1996; 
(B) reverse the Treasury Department’s de-
cision to allow financial institutions to accept 
the Mexican matricula consular cards as valid 
identification for the purpose of opening bank 
accounts; 
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•HRES 499 IH 
(C) enforce legally binding affidavits of 
support that sponsors of immigrants sign; 
(D) end the practice of catching illegal im-
migrants at the border and returning them 
without prosecution; 
(E) enforce the employer sanctions enacted 
as part of the Immigration Reform and Control 
Act of 1986; 
(F) enforce section 505 of the Illegal Im-
migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 
Act of 1996, which prohibits in-State college 
tuition for illegal immigrants; 
(G) require prosecution of anyone caught 
smuggling immigrants across the border ille-
gally irrespective of how many immigrants are 
being smuggled; 
(H) increase the number of full-time Bor-
der Patrol agents by at least 1,306 by the end 
of fiscal year 2007, as authorized by the Intel-
ligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act 
of 2004; 
(I) increase the number of detention beds 
for illegal immigrants by at least 15,944 by the 
end of fiscal year 2007, as authorized by the 
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•HRES 499 IH 
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention 
Act of 2004; 
(J) increase the number of full-time immi-
gration investigators by at least 1,600 by the 
end of fiscal year 2007, as authorized by the 
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention 
Act of 2004; 
(K) comply with the Secure Fence Act of 
2006 by building over 700 miles of fencing 
along the U.S.-Mexico border; and 
(L) increase the use of expedited removal 
procedures for all illegal immigrants eligible for 
expedited removal under United States immi-
gration laws; and 
(2) taking the steps described in paragraph (1) 
will lead to a substantial reduction in illegal immi-
gration and will greatly improve the border security 
of the United States. 
Æ 
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