Congressional leaders in both the House and Senate revealed what they have in store for border enforcement and immigration reform if former President Donald Trump reenters the White House.
Beefing up border security and cracking down on interior enforcement are all on the table if Trump is reelected in November, according to several GOP lawmakers who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation. Sen Ted Cruz and Rep. Troy Nehls of Tennessee, along with Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, have zeroed in on the issue in Congress and say they are ready and waiting to assist the incoming Trump administration. (RELATED: NYPD Refused Detainer Request And Released Illegal Migrant Charged With Attempted Murder, ICE Says)
“Every day we hear about illegal aliens assaulting or murdering another American,” Cruz said to the DCNF. “I’ve been fighting for justice for Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old from Houston who was brutally murdered by two illegal aliens released into Texas under the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
“Next Congress I look forward to passing and to having President Trump sign into law my Justice for Jocelyn Act,” Cruz continued. “This legislation is aimed at ensuring that no child and no family ever again experiences what happened to Jocelyn.”
TOPSHOT – US President Donald Trump speaks after he received a briefing on border security next to Sen. John Cornyn(L) R-TX and Sen. Ted Cruz(2ndR) R-TX near the Rio Grande in McAllen, Texas, on January 10, 2019. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Nungaray was a 12-year-old Houston girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered in June by two Venezuelan men. Federal immigration authorities say the two men entered the United States unlawfully before their arrest for Nungaray’s brutal killing.
The Justice for Jocelyn Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to “exhaust all reasonable efforts” to keep an illegal migrant in custody before resorting to releasing them into the interior of the country, according to the legislation. Should an illegal migrant be released, however, the bill would call for continuous GPS monitoring until their removal from the country or the completion of their immigration proceedings.
The legislation also would empower federal immigration officials to immediately deport illegal migrants who violate their terms of their release — a proposal that could potentially prevent an incredible number of crimes by illegal migrants who repeatedly encounter law enforcement.
“Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have released dangerous illegal aliens into our country that have gone on to take the lives of American citizens,” Nehls stated to the DCNF. “I have introduced pieces of legislation that would remove illegal aliens who fail to comply with their release order and to improve the mandatory tracking and detention of illegal aliens for the entire process.”
“Too many Americans have lost their lives at the hands of illegal aliens that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden let into our country,” Nehls continued. “Congress must do everything to ensure that Americans are put first, not illegal aliens who shouldn’t even be here in the first place.”
Nehls, whose district largely covers the Houston suburbs, is a sponsor for the Justice for Jocelyn Act on the House side. Like Cruz, the Republican congressman has also ripped the Biden-Harris administration for the release of illegal migrants when there has been detention space available within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 15: U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) leaves a press conference on the House January 6 Committee hearings at the U.S. Capitol on June 15, 2022 ,in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“In a second Trump administration, the House Committee on Homeland Security will do everything possible to help the United States return to an era of secure borders and robust interior enforcement,” Green, who serves as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, stated to the DCNF. “Ending the Biden-Harris border crisis will require two things — policy changes to end the flow of inadmissible aliens into our country, and more funding for interior enforcement to demonstrate that there are consequences to entering illegally.”
With Green as its chairman, the House Homeland Committee has remained one of the Biden-Harris administration’s fiercest critics, demanding answers on a slate of immigration-related controversies, such as the vetting process that went into the entry of an Afghan recently arrested for allegedly plotting an Election Day terrorist attack, the alleged failure of the administration to properly vet foreign nationals before they boarded domestic flights, the handling of unaccompanied alien children into the country, among numerous other border issues.
“While we don’t control the budget process, I believe that providing massive increases for ICE detention and removal operations will be paramount, and I will be vocal about their necessity,” Green continued.
All three lawmakers have also been presented with the 2024 Congressional Champions of Interior Enforcement award by the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE) for their legislative efforts. NICE has championed hawkish border policy in Washington, D.C., and tracked data that demonstrates the consequences of lax enforcement — such as when the group collected data on how substantially fewer criminal illegal migrants are being removed from the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration compared to Trump’s time in office.
There were 423,102 deportations of criminal aliens under the first three fiscal years of the Trump administration, with that number falling to 134,617 during the same time period under the current administration, NICE uncovered. Those numbers marked a 74% decrease in removals altogether.
NICE advocates for the end of catch-and-release of illegal migrants at the border, the abolition of sanctuary city laws, requiring all employers in the country to use E-Verify, among numerous other hawkish policies.
“President Trump will be ready, Congress just needs to provide the resources,” RJ Hauman, president of NICE, said to the DCNF. He added that more detention beds are needed and called for “immediate” GPS monitoring of every illegal migrant on the non-detained docket in order to properly conduct sweeping deportations.
“Our champions of interior enforcement will be sure to lead the charge on Capitol Hill,” Hauman said.
The lawmakers said they are ready to work with their allies and hit the ground running if Trump occupies the Oval Office in January.
“I am deeply grateful to the National Immigration Center for Enforcement for all their work pushing back on the open-borders, anti-enforcement policies of the Biden-Harris administration, and to inform the American people about the damage these policies have caused,” Green said of the organization. “I encourage my colleagues on the Hill to consider partnering with them in pursuit of creative and effective policy solutions to this self-inflicted crisis.”
“I’ve been proud to work with some great allies on this bill, including the National Immigration Center for Enforcement,” Cruz said, referring to his Justice for Jocelyn Act. “Together, we will act to stop the crimes enabled by this Biden-Harris administration.”
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