As the witness testified before my Subcommittee on Immigration, that barriers magnify the ability of every Border Patrol agent to be more effective. And so if you make up your mind, you can build substantial mileage barriers. It will increase the ability of our officers to perform, and the most important thing is, it sends a message to the world, the border is closed.

How can we vote for a bill [S.744] that our own CBO says will reduce average wages in America for 12 years, increase unemployment for 7 years, and reduce per capita GNP growth over 25 years? A bill that will admit 30 million people to permanent legal status in the next 10 years? That will dramatically increase the annual immigration flow, and will double the guest worker flow?

[Donald] Trump, I think, understands it. He has said this is going to be a new Republican Party, a workers' Republican Party, instead of just the elite Republican Party.

I understand the lifelong scars born by women who are victims of assault and abuse.

I think the leaders in all parties tend to adjust to reality. They just have to or they won't remain in office.

You're not supposed to be admitted to America if you're likely to be a charge on the public - if you're going to need government aid to take care of yourself ... It [2006 immigration bill] failed because it did not do what it said it would do... End the illegality first. Then we can wrestle with how to treat compassionately people who have been in America for a long time.

In my family, we were not involved in politics at all.