Rand Paul: Immigration Reform Must Address Boston Marathon Bombings

Rand Paul wants to get to the bottom of the Boston terrorist attack before voting on any new immigration laws.

Sen. Paul, a supporter of immigration reform, says the current legislation should be put on hold until all the facts are known about how the Boston Marathon bombing suspects were allowed to enter and stay in the U.S.

Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican and a medical doctor, made his feelings about the national security implications of the immigration system known in a letter to US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The so-called Gang of Eight (four Democrats and four Republicans in the Senate) have put forth a sweeping immigration reform bill that is currently before the Judiciary Committee. The legislation would among other things provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. The 1,500 page bill has been criticized in some quarters for containing all kinds of compliance loopholes, complicated Obamacare-like language, and insufficient border security provisions, however. Despite all the political rhetoric, various opinion polls suggest that immigration reform is low on the priority list of the average American even though it is favored generally.

Rand Paul’s letter to Reid said in part:

“I believe that any real comprehensive immigration reform must implement strong national security protections. The facts emerging in the Boston Marathon bombing have exposed a weakness in our current system. If we don’t use this debate as an opportunity to fix flaws in our current system, flaws made even more evident last week, then we will not be doing our jobs.

“We should not proceed until we understand the specific failures of our immigration system. Why did the current system allow two individuals to immigrate to the United States from the Chechen Republic in Russia, an area known as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, who then committed acts of terrorism? Were there any safeguards? Could this have been prevented? Does the immigration reform before us address this?”

Paul also wondered whether more scrutiny is needed when “accepting refugees from high-risk nations.”

The senator recently educated America about the 5th Amendment when he conducted an old-school filibuster against John Brennan’s nomination to head the CIA over drone deployments on US soil.

Do you agree with Sen. Paul and several other lawmakers that the current immigration reform legislation should be delayed until all the facts come out about the Boston bombings?