Matt O'Brien

Matt O’Brien is the director of investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute and the co-host of IRLI’s podcast "No Border, No Country." Immediately prior to working for IRLI he served as an immigration judge. He has nearly 30 years of experience in immigration law and policy, having held numerous positions within the Department of Homeland Security.

Murder victim Jocelyn Nungaray

Opinion

July 15, 2024

Without a border, immigrant crime can hit everywhere

We get bombarded by the horrifying reality of illegal immigrant crime. Families shattered. Victims robbed, raped and murdered. We need a strong border to stop crime before it happens.

FILE - In this March 21, 2021 file photo, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent looks on near a gate on the U.S.-Mexico border wall as agents take migrants into custody, in Abram-Perezville, Texas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has has offered scarce details on his plans to construct new barrier along the border with Mexico. It remained unclear Friday, June 11 on how much barrier Texas would erect or where or when it would be installed on the states 1,200-mile border with Mexico. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Opinion

November 22, 2023

Texas’ new immigration statutes are common sense, not racist

Texas recently passed legislation that would allow local law enforcement officers to arrest foreign nationals for having unlawfully entered the U.S. Critics call these commonsense laws racist.