Conservative Action Project

January 30, 2024
Washington, D.C.

Conservatives are united on a singular fact: President Biden could secure the border if he simply enforced the laws on the books.

With that in mind, we are opposed to any border proposal that does not, above all else, impose policies that will dramatically reduce the flow of illegal immigration, ensure that new and existing laws are enforced, and address the problem of illegal immigrants voting in U.S. elections.

Rather than focusing on these goals, the Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell and Senator James Lankford are currently negotiating a border proposal with Senate Democrats and the Biden White House which accomplishes none of them. Worse, this is occurring while the House is proceeding with the impeachment of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

While negotiators continue to withhold legislative language, details that have been leaked suggest that the proposal is deeply insufficient at controlling the historic and unprecedented number of illegal crossings facilitated by the Biden administration. Worse, it appears that the deal would do serious harm to a future president’s ability to enforce order at the border. The proposal in effect codifies Biden’s illegal abuses of the system and enshrines programmatic amnesty into law.

Of immediate concern is the fact that the proposal countenances allowing either four or five thousand illegal crossings to take place until expulsion measures kick in – a rate of roughly 150,000 crossings a month, or 1.8 million per year. It is outrageous to even consider acknowledging in law that there are any number of illegal crossings considered tolerable. Moreover, it is an open question as to whether such a statute would compromise a future president’s ability to enforce emergency measures on less than four or five thousand crossers.

These actions – as well as others being considered – are dramatic changes to existing law and need thorough review. But as it stands, no text has been released, and both Republican and Democratic leaders have made clear that they do not intend to have any committee process on this legislation. Neither will they commit to an open amendment process, or a designated amount of time to allow senators to review the forthcoming legislation before being required to vote.

The reality is that President Biden does not need new authorities to secure the border. He simply has to enforce existing law. President Trump was able to secure the border and drop illegal crossings to historic lows simply by enforcing the laws available to him. It is a fiction that more authority is needed to help President Biden do his job, and it is questionable whether, even with new legal authorities granted to him, Biden would even enforce those laws.

The House has passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023. The bill makes necessary changes to the law to provide for more robust, streamlined enforcement, and critically, has the accountability mechanisms necessary to make sure the law is enforced.

Senate Republicans should stop negotiating against themselves and instead refuse to pass any border policy that is not H.R. 2. They should certainly walk away from a so-called negotiation that enshrines an acceptable number of illegal crossings into law and does nothing to address outstanding problems like the administration’s abuse of parole authority and illegal immigrants voting in federal and state elections. And finally, no conservative should support any proposal without the ability to meaningfully review and amend it.

We urge all conservatives to reject this border proposal and stand united behind the House passed H.R. 2 which will actually secure the border.


The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988)
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.
The Honorable Jim DeMint
Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute
Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013)
Rebecca Weber
CEO
Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
Ed Corrigan
Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project
President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute
Kevin Roberts, Ph.D.
President
The Heritage Foundation
Jenny Beth Martin
Chairman
Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund
Bob Carlstrom
President
AMAC Action
Chad Connelly
Founder and President
Faith Wins
Lori Roman
President
ACRU Action Fund
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
White House Advisor
President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985)
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Senior Legal Fellow
Conservative Partnership Institute
Myron Ebell
Chairman
American Lands Council
Thomas E. McClusky
Principal
Greenlight Strategies, LLC
Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq.
President and CEO
First Liberty Institute
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
Mike Berry
General Counsel and Director of External Affairs
First Liberty Institute
David N. Bossie
President
Citizens United
Wesley Denton
Chief Operating Officer
Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)
Scott T. Parkinson
Tom Jones
President
American Accountability Foundation
The Honorable Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio
William L. Walton
The Bill Walton Show
Resolute Protector Foundation
Terry Schilling
President
American Principles Project
David Bozell
President
ForAmerica
The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Advancing American Freedom
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
Joseph Miller
Executive Director
Citizens for Renewing America
Steve Moore
Co-Founder
Committee to Unleash Prosperity
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell
President
The Leadership Institute
Allen J. Hébert
Chairman
American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston
Rod D. Martin
Founder & CEO
Martin Capital, Inc.
Christina Murphy, Esq.
President
The Martin Foundation
Guillermo J. Aragon
Chief Strategy Officer
Martin Capital, Inc.
Lourdes Cosio
Campaign for the American Future
Craig Shirley
Presidential Historian, Reagan Biographer
Author, The Search for Reagan
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Kristen A. Ullman
President
Eagle Forum
Richard Wright
Owner
R & S LLC
Anne Schlafly
Chairman
Eagle Forum
Melvin Adams
President
Noah Webster Educational Foundation
Jack Park
Conservative Activist and Donor
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Lee Beaman
CEO
Beaman Ventures
Dr. Robert W. Malone
President
The Malone Institute
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association
Floyd G. Brown
Founder
The Western Journal
Judson Phillips
Founder
Tea Party Nation
Brigitte Gabriel
Chairwoman and CEO
ACT For America
Dr. Paige Patterson
President
Sandy Creek Foundation
Darrel W. Johnson
CEO
Attic Corporation
The Honorable Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D.
Former Congressman
1st District of Kansas
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
The Honorable Charles J. Cooper
Assistant Attorney General, President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988)
Cooper & Kirk PLLC
Michael Lunsford
Executive Director
Citizens for a New Louisiana
Nancy Schulze
National Strategic Advisor
Physicians for Reform
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
The Honorable Mike Hill
Former Member
Florida State House
Walker Wildmon
CEO
AFA Action
Andrew Roth
President
State Freedom Caucus Network
Collin Moseley
State Director, Illinois
State Freedom Caucus Network
Darin Gaub
Co-Founder and National Spokesman
Restore Liberty
The Honorable Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
The Conservative Caucus
The Honorable Blaine J. Wilhour
State Representative, Illinois
Illinois Freedom Caucus
The Honorable George K. Rasley, Jr.
Managing Editor
ConservativeHQ.com
The Honorable Richard Hayes
State Representative
State of Texas
Connie Hair
State Director, Louisiana
State Freedom Caucus Network
Evan Newman
State Director, South Carolina
State Freedom Caucus Network
The Honorable Rob Harris
State Representative, South Carolina
South Carolina Freedom Caucus
Nick Kerin
State Director, Pennsylvania
State Freedom Caucus Network
Kay R. Daly
President
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
Shea Bradley-Farrell, Ph.D.
President
Counterpoint Institute for Policy, Research and Education
The Honorable Tim Jones
Fmr. Speaker, Missouri House of Representatives
State Director, Missouri Freedom Caucus Network
Jessie Rubino
State Director, Wyoming
State Freedom Caucus Network
The Honorable Valarie Hodges
State Senator
Louisiana Legislature
Kellee Hennessy Dickerson
State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Honorable Kathy Edmonston
State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Honorable Josiah Magnuson
State Representative, South Carolina
South Carolina Freedom Caucus
The Honorable Joe Hamm
State Representative
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Peter Egan Paul Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation
The Honorable Jordan Pace
State Representative, South Carolina
South Carolina Freedom Caucus
The Honorable John Bear
State Representative, Wyoming House of Representatives
Chairman, Wyoming Freedom Caucus
Tom DeWeese
President
American Policy Center
Joseph Gregory
CEO
Gregory Mgt. Co.
Suanne Edmiston
State Director, Arizona
State Freedom Caucus Network
The Honorable Dodie Horton
State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
Karen England
President
Capitol Resource Institute
Rodney Schamerhorn
State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
Eunie Smith
President
Eagle Forum of Alabama
William P. Mills, III
Member
Council for National Policy
Kelly M. Kullberg
General Secretary
American Association of Evangelicals (AAE)
David Kullberg
Executive Director
Christians for A Sound Economy (CASE)
David L. O’Neal
State Representative
South Carolina House of Representatives
The Honorable Dan Caulkins
State Representative, Illinois
Illinois Freedom Caucus
Maria Nate
State Director, Idaho
State Freedom Caucus Network
Katrina Snyder
Development Specialist
Foundation for American Christian Education
Thomas Beach
State Representative
South Carolina House of Representatives
Phillip Tarver
State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
Augusta H. Petrone
Iowa Co-Chair
Reagan-Bush ’84
The Honorable Jay Galle
State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
Michelle Easton
President
Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women
The Honorable Melissa Oremus
State Representative, South Carolina
South Carolina Freedom Caucus
The Honorable Joe Whote
State Representative, South Carolina
South Carolina Freedom Caucus
Tim Macy
Chairman
Gun Owners of America
Tim LeFever
Chairman
Capitol Resource Institute
The Honorable James C. Miller III
Budget Director for President Reagan (1985-1988)
The Honorable RJ May
State Representative
South Carolina House of Representatives
Dr. Jerry A. Johnson
President (2013-2019)
National Religious Broadcasters
The Honorable Stewart Jones
State Representative
South Carolina House of Representatives
The Honorable Dawn Keefer
State Representative
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Dr. Karladine Graves
Physician/Activist
William Shaker
CEO
Washington Marketing Group
Peggy Dau
Co-Founder
NationsNet.org
Robert K. Fischer
Meeting Coordinator
Conservatives of Faith
Joan Holt Lindsey
President
Lindsey Communications
Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO, TheTruthCentral.com
Corstet, LLC
The Honorable Jacyn Gallagher
State Representative
Idaho House of Representatives
The Honorable Cindy Carlson
State Senator
Idaho Legislature
The Honorable Tony Wisniewski
State Representative
Idaho House of Representatives
The Honorable Scott Herndon
State Senator
Idaho Legislature
The Honorable Glenneda Zuiderveld
State Senator, Idaho
Idaho Freedom Caucus
The Honorable Allen E. Slagle
State Representative
Wyoming State Legislature
Kielle Lindsey
President
The Lindsey Foundation
Mike Kingsley
State Representative
Idaho House of Representatives
Colonel Dan Foreman
USAF (Ret. )
Kimberly Fletcher
Founder
Moms for America
The Honorbale Heather Scott
State Representative
Idaho House of Representatives
Tim Throckmorton
President
Lifepointe Minisries
The Honorable Joe Alfieri
State Representative
Idaho House of Representatives
Kathleen Patten
President & CEO
American Target Advertising, Inc.
The Honorable Beryl Amedee
State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Honorable Elaine Price
State Representative, Idaho
Idaho Freedom Caucus

Signatures updated: 1/31/24

All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only.