Hear Dr. Chris discuss his opponent’s view on immigration. Please see below for the transcript.
Hello. I am Dr. Chris Magiera from Warsaw, Indiana, and I am running for the United States House of Representatives from the 3rd Congressional District of Indiana.
Every day, the career politicians, and the massive Administrative State that they support, infringe upon your God-given natural rights and liberties. In order to secure these rights, the Founders incorporated into the Constitution certain well-defined and enumerated powers for the Congress. Among these was Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4: “The Congress shall have Power to establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization.”
On its surface, this seems like a simple and straightforward matter. However, constitutional scholars and activists have, for many years, intensely debated whether immigration powers are the same as naturalization powers. For the moment, let’s assume that immigration and naturalization are linked. It may or may not surprise you that, over this past summer, the #1 spontaneous concern expressed by people I met at the parades and fairs of the 3rd District was the subject of the security of our borders—and, more specifically, the crisis of uninvited migrants at the southern border.
If a subject is this intense, then it would seem only natural that the voters would want to compare and contrast the opinions of the candidates. And, indeed, voters are asking me how I, the challenger in this May 5 June 2, 2020 Republican primary, am different from, or, what I would do differently from, the incumbent, Representative Jim Banks.
Well, since I am not a current or past office holder, the logical place to begin would be with the voting record of Representative Banks. When considering past performance, it is crucial to not only consider what has been done, but also what has been done, or should have been done. Out-of-control migration and immigration threaten the lives, safety, health, job opportunities, and wages of American citizens, not to mention the depletion of scarce financial and infrastructure resources of the States and the Union.
Under the heading of “Reducing Unnecessary Worker Visas,” there are three negative actions of the incumbent to consider. First, on 3/15/17, Jim Banks was a co-sponsor on HR 1544 – Keeping Our Promise to Our Afghan Allies Act. This Act would have increased the number of special immigrant visas for Afghani nationals from 8,500 to 11,000. Was this, I ask, the only or best way to deal with this refugee situation? Second, on 3/22/2018, Jim Banks voted in favor of HR 1625 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. Tucked away in a corner of this massive omnibus spending bill was a provision to authorize DHS (Homeland) to double the number of H-2B visas for FY 2018. What is an H-2B visa? With over 185 different types of visas, confusion is not unexpected. This is a visa for temporary, non-immigrant, non-agricultural, seasonal workers, such as hotel and resort workers. Did we need up to 66,000 more seasonal workers to compete with Americans and to depress wages? Apparently, special interests are very powerful in Washington.
Last in this category, is a recent vote, the 7/10/19 passage by the House of HR 1044 – Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act. Don’t let the titles of bills fool you; the Acts results are usually the opposite of the title (example: The Affordable Care Act). In any case, this rather complex bill is designed to alter the formulas for the H-1B tech specialty visas. Jim Banks, joining forces with 139 other Republicans and 224 Democrats, voted to pass HR 1044.
In a 7/12/19 analysis, NumbersUSA, a non-partisan immigration watchdog and reform group, said, about HR 1044, “It would benefit one industry (Big Tech) and two groups of applicants (Indian tech workers and Chinese investors) and squeeze out all others.” A syndicated columnist, Joe Guzzardi, summed up objections to HR 1044 in a 10/31/19 column appearing in the Warsaw Times-Union. He quoted a Labor Dept. official as saying, “Increased immigration should be the last—not the first—public policy response to skills shortages.” I agree. Medical doctors are intimately familiar with the “Law of Unintended Consequences.” A person well versed in this type of thought process, like a physician, would make a very effective legislator.
Under the heading of “Reducing Amnesty Enticements,” there was also another negative action by the incumbent. On 5/4/17, Jim Banks signed on as a co-sponsor to HR 60 – ENLIST Act. This reiteration of an earlier amnesty bill would grant legal permanent resident status to a group of undocumented immigrants, the so-called “Dreamers,” and thereby promote expedited citizenship and amnesty if they honorably served in the military. Support of this act shows a lack of understanding of the causes of uninvited migration and its solutions. A Heritage Foundation review concluded, “These proposals would not demonstrably promote national security, would harm homeland security and the immigration system, and would ignore the root causes of illegal immigration.”
As stated earlier, a record of inaction can be just as important as a record of action. In the case of the issue of immigration and naturalization, Jim Banks has been absolutely silent on the subject of “Anchor Baby Citizenship.” Clarity for the principle that citizenship follows the parents, not the “soil,” can be found in Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, as well as in an 18th-century reference often cited by the Founders, “The Law of Nations” by Emer de Vattel. Following the Constitution ALWAYS provides a solution, and that is the document that will guide my votes in Congress 100% of the time.
Lastly, under the heading of “what should have been done,” I offer a contrast to my opponent. While some may maintain that he has supported and voted for a number of worthy bills on the subject of immigration and naturalization, I would counter that these efforts represent uncoordinated “nibbling around the edges” or “band-aids” applied to a much larger, festering problem. As a physician with 37 years of experience, I am trained to search for decisive, comprehensive “cures.” Because I am not now, nor will I ever be, a career politician, I will not be afraid to stand up to any oppressive leadership or special interest: Republican, Democrat, or Presidential.
The Constitution was instituted to secure our God-given Natural Rights and Liberties, and the citizens of the 3rd Congressional District of Indiana should expect nothing less from their elected representative. In 2020, I ask you to vote for the Constitution. Vote for Dr. Chris Magiera. Thank you.