--- title: Chris Christie Wants to Track Immigrants Like FedEx description: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that he would track immigrants the way FedEx tracks its packages if he is elected president. canonical: https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-30T14:15:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:59.801Z article:section: Politics og:title: Christie Wants to Track Immigrants Like FedEx Tracks Packages og:description: "At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is." og:url: https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaebe717f354a6678/69886193cf40a81151c3f78c/chris-christie2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Governor Chris Christie og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Christie Wants to Track Immigrants Like FedEx Tracks Packages twitter:description: "At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaebe717f354a6678/69886193cf40a81151c3f78c/chris-christie2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chris Christie Wants to Track Immigrants Like FedEx Tracks Packages ## Video: 2016 Republican Presidential Debate: Chris Christie and Rand Paul Argue Over The Patriot Act [Watch (HLS stream): 2016 Republican Presidential Debate: Chris Christie and Rand Paul Argue Over The Patriot Act](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GkVpV83M.m3u8) (0:46)  _Published 2015-08-07. 2016 Republican Debate Christie Paul Patriot Act_  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Aug 30, 2015 2:15 PM UTC  Gov. Chris Christie in an interview on Aug. 27, 2015. Gov. Chris Christie in an interview on Aug. 27, 2015.David Orrell—CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Aug 30, 2015 2:15 PM UTC New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Saturday that he plans to track illegal immigrants in the same way that FedEx tracks its packages if he is elected president next year. Speaking at a campaign event in Laconia, N.H., the Republican presidential candidate said that he would ask the FedEx CEO himself, Frederick Smith, to create the system, the [New York _Times_ reports.](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/us/politics/christie-proposes-immigrant-tracker-similar-to-fedex.html) “At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is. It’s on the truck. It’s at the station. It’s on the airplane. Yet we let people come to this country with visas, and the minute they come in, we lose track of them,” he said. “We need to have a system that tracks you from the moment you come in.” Christie’s comments arrive as the Republican primary field, [led by real estate mogul Donald Trump](http://time.com/4003525/donald-trump-poll-hillary-clinton-2016/), proposes tighter immigration plans ahead of the Sept. 16 GOP debate. “However long your visa is, then we go get you,” Christie said. “We tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘Excuse me. Thanks for coming. Time to go.’” Christie did not say how exactly the FedEx tracking system, which scans packages’ barcodes, would be used to track undocumented immigrants. A FedEx spokesperson declined to comment. **Read next:** [_Univision’s Jorge Ramos: Reporters Need to Get Tougher on Donald Trump_](http://time.com/4014001/donald-trump-jorge-ramos-immigration/) \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/us/politics/christie-proposes-immigrant-tracker-similar-to-fedex.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/"},"headline":"Chris Christie Wants to Track Immigrants Like FedEx Tracks Packages","datePublished":"2015-08-30T14:15:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:59.801Z","description":"\"At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is\"","url":"https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Chris Christie"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaebe717f354a6678/69886193cf40a81151c3f78c/chris-christie2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaebe717f354a6678/69886193cf40a81151c3f78c/chris-christie2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Governor Chris Christie","caption":"Governor Chris Christie","creditText":"David Orrell—CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/","name":"Chris Christie Wants to Track Immigrants Like FedEx Tracks Packages"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2016 Republican Presidential Debate: Chris Christie and Rand Paul Argue Over The Patriot Act","description":"2016 Republican Debate Christie Paul Patriot Act","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/GkVpV83M/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-07T01:52:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GkVpV83M.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/","duration":"PT46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4016229/chris-christie-fedex-immigration/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```