[Pages H538-H543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kennedy of Utah). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2025, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Haridopolos) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special 
Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, lives destroyed, trust violated, and 
hearts broken, this is the story of illegal immigration.
  Young girls and boys have been sold into sexual slavery. Hundreds of 
thousands have been killed by fentanyl. Hundreds of known terrorists 
have entered our Nation. Schools, hospitals, and towns have been 
overrun by numbers of illegal aliens and the high cost of taxpayers. 
Criminals entered and preyed on our citizens. Sadly, many committed 
murder and rape.
  Yet, we learned just over 2 weeks ago that this is a problem that 
could be quickly solved, and that is what is happening today with the 
election and actions of our new President. This crisis can be quickly 
solved with commonsense and decisive action.
  Today, I am joined by other freshmen Members of this Congress who are 
problem-solvers, people who have made it work at the local level at 
businesses across our country, and they understand how to get things 
done just like our President has been doing for the last 2\1/2\ weeks.
  The first of our speakers today comes from the experienced Missouri 
Legislature, serving in both the house and senate. He has great 
accomplishments as both an attorney and a doctor. He represents a 
central part of Missouri just west of St. Louis, and he is a person who 
back in 2008 knew this problem was coming to a head. He sponsored and 
passed legislation to make sure we did not have sanctuary cities.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Onder), the 
Congressman from the Third District.
  Mr. ONDER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Florida for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an issue important to all 
Americans, not just Americans living on our border. Illegal immigration 
directly impacts our society, our safety, our security, and the future 
of our Nation. Dangers posed by illegal immigration are many. The 
consequences of policies from the Biden administration are many and 
severe.
  Deaths from murder, poisonings from fentanyl, and victimization of 
the innocent by human traffickers could all have been solved if only 
the Biden-Harris administration and the Democrat Congress were willing 
to secure our borders.

[[Page H539]]

  I want to begin by sharing a case that sadly demonstrates the dire 
consequences of our porous border and weak immigration enforcement. In 
my district, in St. Charles County, Missouri, two innocent women were 
sexually assaulted by an illegal alien of Middle Eastern descent who 
overstayed his tourist visa. Instead of returning home like he was 
supposed to and as our law required, he flouted the law and stayed 
illegally.
  Ultimately, he victimized two innocent American women. The trauma 
inflicted upon these women and upon many others like them is 
immeasurable. If we are to prevent this from happening again, we must 
remember that the pain is a direct result of the open border policies 
that have failed to prioritize the safety of Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not an isolated incident. This is a pattern and 
an epidemic of lawlessness that has swept across our country. 
Criminals, foreign nationals, and even terrorists have attempted to 
exploit our immigration policy failures.
  Over the past 4 years, we have rightfully turned our attention to the 
southern border. We also have illegal immigrants taking advantage of 
lax enforcement and overstaying visas without consequence. The story of 
this individual in St. Charles County is part of a pattern with these 
overstays being a large source of our illegal alien population.
  For that reason, I will soon be introducing the Timely Departure Act. 
This important legislation would require certain visa recipients to 
post a cash bond which they would forfeit should they overstay their 
visas. Under this law, overstayers who overstay would be unable to 
obtain lawful immigration status for at least 4 years, and they would 
be unable to submit an asylum claim or withholding of removal claim 
after their scheduled departure date. Visitor, business, and pleasure 
visas are important to our economy, but they are being abused.
  Before the Biden administration's change to the asylum policy, visa 
overstays were a leading contributor to illegal immigration. As of 
2023, visa overstays accounted for 42 percent of the illegal 
population. This legislation is necessary to enforce visa exit dates, 
and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Timely Departure 
Act.
  Mr. Speaker, our immigration system, which was once designed to be a 
source of legal immigration and lawful entry, has become nothing more 
than a wide-open door and a red carpet. This must end. This is why 
President Trump and House Republicans have to act forcefully to protect 
Americans.
  Another border security issue is the abuse of our asylum process. 
Over the past couple of years, especially as Texas has taken action to 
secure its border, fewer illegal aliens have been entering our country 
by sneaking by border crossings like Eagle Pass or Brownsville.
  More and more illegal aliens are presenting themselves to immigration 
authorities and claiming asylum. Most of these asylum cases are bogus. 
The Biden administration has not detained these aliens but, rather, 
released them into the country with some far-off asylum hearing date to 
which they never show. We found time and time again that these so-
called refugees are violent criminals.

  Under our America First border policies, this abuse of the asylum 
process is going to end. President Trump's actions at the border, his 
executive orders, and his diplomacy with Colombia, Mexico, and Canada 
show that he means what he says. He means business.
  In Congress, we will assist with legislation like the Laken Riley 
Act, and we will provide funding for the border wall, border guards, 
and the legal resources to clean out the many bogus asylum claims.
  A message to all the countries who are part of the problem is the era 
of the U.S. playing the fool ends now. They should not empty their 
prisons or coddle drug and human trafficking cartels at our expense or 
they will face consequences.
  Another equally important issue is that the open border policies of 
the Biden-Harris administration have led to an epidemic of fentanyl 
poisonings across our country. Fentanyl, which is smuggled across our 
southern border, is responsible for 100,000 American deaths in the last 
year alone.
  We have become a global dumping ground for the world's deadliest 
drugs with Mexican cartels making and smuggling fentanyl and 
methamphetamine into the United States, drugs made from Chinese 
precursor chemicals. We will secure our border. We will build the wall. 
Yes, we will target drug cartels as international terrorists.
  Occasionally, we hear apologists for the open border policies of the 
Biden administration argue that somehow mass illegal immigration is 
good for our economy or that some illegal aliens pay taxes. It is nice 
that illegal aliens sometimes pay taxes, but these individuals fail to 
account for the full cost of illegal immigration.
  The strain on our economy has been profound. Taxpayer dollars have 
been spent to fund social services, healthcare, and education for 
illegal aliens. That is money that could be better spent on securing 
the future, money that we do not have with our debt of $36 trillion, 
not to mention the economic and social costs of the victims of crime 
caused by illegal aliens or the lives cut short by fentanyl poisoning 
or the immeasurable and lifelong trauma of the victims of human 
trafficking.
  Police officers, teachers, and healthcare providers are working 
harder than ever to accommodate an influx of people who have no legal 
right to be here. Democrats have told us to accept this as the new 
normal. House Republicans and President Trump are here to tell our 
communities this ends now.
  Mr. Speaker, this crisis is not just a border issue. It is a national 
security issue. It is a public safety issue. It is a public health 
issue. It is an economic issue. We must take swift action to protect 
our country, our communities, and our people.
  Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration's open border policies have 
failed, and it is time for a change. In collaboration with Donald 
Trump, it is time to make America safe again.
  Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, next we have Congressman Tony Wied from 
the great State of Wisconsin. He represents the northeastern portion of 
Wisconsin, the Eighth Congressional District.
  He comes with the real-world experience of being a businessowner, as 
he and his wife have developed an amazing business in their neck of the 
woods. He serves on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
the Committee on Agriculture, as well as the Committee on Small 
Business.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Wied).

                              {time}  1730

  Mr. WIED. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues to address an 
issue that has plagued our Nation over the last 4 years and to let the 
American people know that the House GOP is working alongside President 
Trump to secure our border and make the safety of American citizens our 
number one priority.
  When President Trump left office 4 years ago, our border was secure, 
and significant progress was being made on the border wall. On the 
first day of the Biden administration, Joe Biden unilaterally reversed 
nearly all of the successful policies of the Trump administration and 
invited an invasion at our southern border.
  Every State became a border State, including my home state of 
Wisconsin. Every county became a border county. Every town became a 
border town. We saw unprecedented numbers of illegal aliens crossing 
our border and invading our country. Many of these individuals have 
committed violent felonies and other serious crimes since entering this 
country.
  As I traveled through all 11 counties in Wisconsin's Eighth 
Congressional District, I heard from citizens who wanted the 
lawlessness to end. I also heard from sheriffs who had gang members 
taking up spaces in their jails with no plans to deport them.
  Make no mistake, this crisis was a policy choice of Joe Biden and the 
Democrats. They purposely shredded President Trump's successful border 
security playbook and allowed unmitigated illegal immigration to 
continue uninterrupted and unimpeded for 4 straight years.
  In just over 2 weeks since President Trump has taken office, he has 
done more to secure our border and protect

[[Page H540]]

Americans than President Biden did in 4 years.
  As you can see, over the past 2 years, there was an average of more 
than 1,500 illegal migrants encountered at our border every single day.
  In President Trump's first days in office, that number had fallen to 
fewer than 50 encounters. Since then, we have continued to see a 63 
percent drop in illegal encounters at the border on average.
  This is what happens when you have a President who prioritizes the 
safety of American citizens.
  President Trump has reinstated the remain in Mexico policy, and I am 
proud to cosponsor a bill by Representative Brandon Gill to make this 
policy permanent so that future, radical administrations cannot undo 
our progress.
  We also passed the Laken Riley Act and the Violence Against Women by 
Illegal Aliens Act. These bills ensure that anyone in this country 
illegally who commits a crime, whether it be a theft or sexual assault, 
will have an ICE detainer placed on them immediately.
  The House of Representatives just passed the HALT Fentanyl Act, 
permanently criminalizing fentanyl.
  In 2023, 70 percent of the 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. 
involved a synthetic opioid such as fentanyl.
  Every single life lost is more than a statistic. Families should not 
have to feel this heartbreak, and this legislation will prevent future 
lives from being lost to this deadly drug.
  This is just the beginning. We will not rest until our border is 
secure again and Americans feel safe in their communities again.
  My pledge to the people of Wisconsin's Eighth Congressional District 
and to citizens all across the United States is that House Republicans 
will never relent in our mission to make America safe again.
  I thank President Trump and my Republican colleagues for their 
leadership on this issue. A nation without borders is no nation at all.
  Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, my next speaker, Representative Brad 
Knott, is a Federal prosecutor, and he has seen firsthand the 
challenges that come with illegal immigration. It was one of the ways 
that I truly learned about what was going on at the border. Congressman 
Knott and I had long discussions about the challenges we faced at the 
Department of Justice and the everyday trials and tribulations that 
people face because of this illegal activity.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Knott), who represents central North Carolina in District 13.
  Mr. KNOTT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise as the newly elected Representative of North 
Carolina's 13th Congressional District. This being my first speech on 
the House floor, I want to take an opportunity to introduce myself to 
the House, to talk a little bit about our incredible district, and then 
highlight one of the single most important issues to me personally and 
one of the main motivating factors that led me to run for office: 
illegal immigration and the deep harm it inflicts on our country each 
and every day.
  First, the 13th Congressional District of North Carolina stretches 
all the way from Lee County to the State's northern border, and it 
includes: Wake, Johnston, Harnett, Franklin, Caswell, Person, and 
Granville Counties along the way.
  We tout a wide array of professions from dedicated farmers and 
retailers to manufacturers and medical professionals, providing the 
Nation and the world with food, fuel, clothing, and care.
  On January 3 when I was sworn in to Congress, I was blessed and 
humbled to have my grandfather in the House Chamber with me. Also a 
lifelong North Carolinian, he fought and was wounded in World War II 
fighting the Nazis before coming home to start a business, raise a 
family, and serve his community in many ways for decades.
  He and my father both inspired me to work hard and pursue a lifelong 
goal of serving as a Federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of 
North Carolina, which I did for the better part of the last decade.
  I proudly worked alongside law enforcement at every level, local, 
State, and Federal, to prosecute organized crimes in cases that touched 
every corner of the country.
  This, of course, included drug cartels, human traffickers, those who 
were here to commit financial crimes, national gangs, and many, many 
more.
  I saw how harmful policies weakened law enforcement and gravely 
wounded communities and households all over the country. The most 
glaring policy flaws involved the southern border.
  As soon as the Biden administration took power, their decisions made 
one thing very clear: The policy flaws involving the southern border 
and the illegal immigration crisis, they were no blunders of the Biden-
Harris administration. This was a conscious and deliberate policy to 
flood the Nation with illegal immigrants, not just from our neighbors 
to the south, but from all over the world.
  Behind me is a chart. Many of the viewers may recognize it as the 
chart that President Trump was viewing when he turned his head, a 
divine miracle that saved his life. The chart itself shows directly 
that all President Biden and Kamala Harris had to do was nothing.
  We can see that the border was secure and illegal immigration was 
descending. As soon as they took power, it was like a vertical rocket 
ship. There was no gradual increase. It was an immediate increase.
  Me personally, I saw how the Biden-Merrick Garland DOJ put the brakes 
on enforcing immigration laws, purposely slowing immigration 
prosecutions down to a trickle.
  Open borders and redirected efforts allowed the international 
criminal organizations not only to take hold in this country, but they 
took hold in such a way that it is far more pervasive than many 
Americans realize.
  Yes, we see the effects, but most do not fully understand the wide-
reaching influence of these bad actors. As a point in thesis, we must 
address illegal immigration now.
  Now, I will say I was very glad to read the report yesterday of our 
new Attorney General, Ms. Bondi. On her very first day in office, she 
directed the DOJ to pause all Federal funding for sanctuary cities. I 
applaud the Attorney General for taking this important step and I will 
state it is high time that public officials in Democratically 
controlled cities and States around the country follow her lead and 
adhere to the rule of law.
  It is because of the reckless open-border policies, again, designed 
and embraced by the Democratic Party, that every State has suffered.
  If I can turn to the next chart.
  Again, this next chart will show just how drastic the open border 
crisis was during the last 4 years, it is a little clearer. Again, 
these are the individuals on the terrorist watch list apprehended 
illegally crossing the open border.
  Again, we are talking about the ill effects of these policies. In 
fiscal year 2017, '18, '19, '20, again, no involvement, and then in 
'21, '22, '23, and '24, it skyrockets.
  Again, all Americans have been put at risk. It is because of these 
open-border policies, that we continue to mourn the entirely 
preventable crimes that so many Americans have faced. This, of course, 
includes the young lady named Laken Riley from Georgia and Rachel Morin 
from Maryland and many others who died at the hands of illegal 
immigrants.
  As one other statistic, West Virginia, a rural State, loses more than 
a thousand people every year from fentanyl smuggled across our southern 
border. Opioid overdoses are the leading cause of death among Americans 
in every State from 18 to 45.
  In Nevada, just those that we know about, human traffickers that are 
here illegally prey on up to 500 minors shuffling them into sex 
trafficking.
  The statistics are endless. The examples are too numerous. And make 
no mistake about this, this wide, far-reaching crisis is in my 
community, it is in your community, and it is in every community around 
the country.
  With an open border and weak law enforcement policies, every 
incentive imaginable exists for individuals to come to the United 
States and prey on our people. I saw it firsthand as a prosecutor when 
I talked to these criminals, when I investigated their crimes. We must 
face the reality that every incentive exists for criminals around the

[[Page H541]]

world to come here to the United States, for organizations to come here 
to the United States to set up a permanent and entrenched presence. 
They prey on our people, and they enrich themselves while doing it.
  Again, when I was prosecuting these cases, I saw firsthand how 
criminal illegal immigrants completely disregard our border and 
disregard our laws. They come here with one intent, to inflict harm on 
Americans while enriching themselves.
  Again, it was no secret what was happening across the Department of 
Justice. Statistics were overwhelming as it relates to drug overdose 
deaths, addiction, and the presence of cartels in our communities. 
Human traffickers and drug cartels clearly saw that the 
Biden administration was intent on undoing every enforcement mechanism 
that they had at the border.

  President Trump had figured it out. Joe Biden undid it.
  Our criminal justice system immediately, State and Federal, became 
weighed down by the surging crime that accompanied our invasion from 
illegal immigrants. This crisis burdens not just our communities with 
public safety issues, as my colleague from Missouri just mentioned, 
this crisis burdens our healthcare system, and it burdens our public 
school system. By some estimates, illegal immigrant children account 
for up to 10 to 15 percent of the public school students in various 
portions of our country.
  By some estimates, it is estimated that we spend up to $150 billion 
per year at local, State, and Federal levels that are direct payments 
for illegal immigrants.
  Again, there is one study that the Homeland Security Committee did in 
the 118th Congress that reported that nearly 10 percent of the births 
covered by Medicaid were children of illegal immigrants.
  Now, proponents of illegal immigration and weak borders have for 
years gaslit Americans into believing that it is inhumane to enforce 
our borders. Of course, this empty argument is ridiculous and easily 
rebutted on multiple levels.
  For those who have experienced the crime brought to our country from 
illegal immigration, we have a different perspective. I would submit 
allowing a criminal illegal alien who was arrested on multiple 
occasions to be free in our midst and to murder an innocent girl like 
Laken Riley, that is inhumane.
  Surrendering apartment complexes that are filled with hardworking 
American taxpayers to vicious gangs, that is inhumane.
  Allowing hundreds of thousands of Americans to die from one drug that 
enters into our country through one mechanism, an open southern border, 
through meticulous schemes of multinational criminal organizations day 
after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, and to 
do nothing about it, that is inhumane.
  Allowing millions more to fall into treacherous addiction with wide 
availability of dangerous drugs flowing across the open border, and 
again, to do nothing about it, that is inhumane.

                              {time}  1745

  We see once mighty centers of American exceptionalism from New York 
City, Manhattan; Philadelphia, specifically the Kensington 
neighborhood; or even San Francisco. From East to West and North to 
South, a tsunami of illegal drugs have hollowed out countless 
individuals and countless homes, ruining lives, ruining neighborhoods, 
ruining cities, and ruining States.
  What have our leaders done over the last 4 years? Nothing. Instead 
and insultingly, they have continued to incentivize without check 
illegal immigration, and they force the taxpayers to foot the bill.
  Weak border proponents, including some of my colleagues on the other 
side of this aisle, expect law enforcement to turn a blind eye to the 
trafficking of people across our border and around the country. They 
have played right into the hand of cartels, making their policies and 
their efforts complicit in the abuse and the atrocities that we all 
see.
  This cycle is not only inhumane, it is as shameful as it is 
dangerous, and it will destroy our country if we do not fix it and fix 
it with urgency.
  I personally saw firsthand how criminal illegal aliens and the 
organizations that send them here capitalized on our open-border 
policies and how flatly wrong many, if not all, of the left's talking 
points are as they relate to the broader immigrant issue.
  The following observations of mine are supported by facts within our 
national law enforcement communities and, again, through firsthand 
observations.
  First, the left throws out any distinction between legal immigrants 
and legal immigrant descendants and illegal immigrants and their 
descendants. There is a very stark contrast between those two camps.
  Second, the left claims that immigrants, broadly speaking, only want 
to come here to the United States for a better life and that they only 
engage in legal and honest work. Again, that is simply not the case 
uniformly by any stretch. There are hundreds of thousands, if not 
millions, who come here repeatedly illegally, again, looking to enrich 
themselves through illegal activity at the American people's expense.
  I investigated and prosecuted dozens of individuals who worked in 
various sectors, like banking, the auto repair business, the public 
school system, the agricultural business, shipping enterprises, law 
enforcement, and countless other outlets. Yes, even law enforcement. 
Those same people, while they had an honest job, they also engaged in 
violent crime, Medicaid fraud, and organized retail theft. They engaged 
in drug trafficking, human trafficking, and/or other types of crime in 
addition to their ``honest'' work. At times they even used their jobs 
to better facilitate criminal endeavors.
  This type of sophisticated criminal infrastructure is a cancer, and 
it must be eradicated. Again, we must redirect the terrible policies 
that enabled this ill in our country.
  Lastly, I will say this: The claim that immigrants commit far fewer 
crimes than native-born Americans, again, this statement is far too 
broad, and it is easily refuted.
  First, as the President's team has stated correctly, every person who 
enters our country illegally has committed a crime. That is 100 percent 
across the board. However, secondly, and even more importantly and 
going directly to the heart of what that claim indicates, one must ask 
oneself: If we do not know who you are and why you are here, is it 
likely that you will be successfully investigated and prosecuted?
  Of course not. There are hundreds of thousands of people who cross 
over the border undetected. One must ask themselves hypothetically: 
Regarding a native-born, local thief, a pickpocket, is it easier to 
investigate and prosecute him or someone that even our border 
enforcement authorities, our Federal law enforcement authorities, or 
local law enforcement have no idea who they are? Of course, the former 
is easier to convict.
  With all that our country has endured, we simply must know who is 
entering our country and why they are coming here. Thankfully, we have 
all turned the page. The disastrous policies of Joe Biden, Kamala 
Harris, and Mr. Mayorkas are being undone with rapid speed.
  For a decade, President Trump alone has identified the threat of 
illegal immigration and how the American taxpayers are being damaged by 
those who come here to harm us collectively.
  We say America First because there is simply no plan B. Flatly 
speaking, nobody can save us if we do not save ourselves. As my 
colleagues have stated, so far Republicans have made great progress 
this cycle. We passed the Laken Riley Act. We passed the Preventing 
Violence Against Women By Illegal Immigrants Act. President Trump's 
executive orders have made an immediate difference, but our work is far 
from over.
  We must reverse the incentive structures. We must classify illegal 
immigrant criminals for what they are, and we must punish them 
severely. It is a no-brainer, Mr. Speaker. We must protect our borders 
and, by extension, all American citizens. If we don't, then we run a 
grave risk of losing our country.
  Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the good words of the 
Congressman from the 13th District of North Carolina giving real-world 
examples of how this unfair policy has impacted so many of us not just 
with dollars but with lives.

[[Page H542]]

  As I mentioned earlier, this is a crime which we must end. The good 
news is we are moving in that direction. What I have mentioned before 
is so telling, and that is the idea of lives destroyed, trust violated, 
and hearts broken.
  America is the land of opportunity and equal justice. What was so 
frustrating in watching this issue grow over the last 4 years is that 
as people are paying more and more for rent, gasoline, and the basics 
of life, here was the Federal Government actually subsidizing illegal 
activity by giving phone cards, giving cash cards, free housing, and 
other benefits while the Americans were suffering each and every day.
  To further complicate that issue, they were hiding not only illegal 
individuals but people who had committed crimes in sanctuary cities. 
Everyone in that neighborhood knew exactly who these people were. We 
saw on day one when Donald Trump took the Office of the Presidency once 
again, those people were quickly identified, arrested, and deported or 
put into jail if they committed a completely violent act.
  It was a no-brainer. As our colleagues before me talked about, all he 
had to do was nothing. It is the ultimate goal of life, just show up 
and do nothing, and you would actually continue to solve a problem. 
However, the former President actually took action. New executive 
orders repealed the successful policies of President Trump, and the 
problem grew and grew and grew.
  Just a couple of weeks ago, I reached out to the place that I used to 
serve in the Florida legislature talking to what is called AHCA. AHCA 
is the group that oversees our healthcare system in Florida. The 
numbers are there in concrete form. Over half a billion dollars was put 
on the backs of taxpayers because illegal aliens accessed the medical 
system for free through Medicaid or other devices, and those cost 
shifts would take place. That means that half a billion dollars was 
taken out of taxpayers' pockets that could have been spent on schools, 
hospitals, roads, the environment, or even tax reduction. Instead, it 
was spent on folks who shouldn't be here, period.
  Mr. Speaker, as you can imagine, my last name is a unique one. My dad 
was actually born in Athens, Greece, but he came here to make a better 
life. He wanted to play by the rules. That is the second thing I want 
to get into tonight.
  There are millions of people who want to come here legally. Yet, they 
are being cut in line by people who are undercutting the rule of law. 
Those folks want to contribute. They have skills that we need: Science, 
technology, engineering, math, and other skills that we desperately 
need in this potential growing economy, especially if the Trump tax 
cuts are reinforced.
  However, instead, we continue to spend, spend, spend with no hope in 
sight for folks who just don't want to contribute to the American 
Dream. It is a great frustration because, Mr. Speaker, when you look at 
the graphs before, the President called it correctly, his policies 
actually worked. It is so enlightening for all of us and such a joy 
that when the President simply went back to the old policy, the number 
of illegals diminished to almost zero. That means we can now go after 
those people who have been preying on the system, whether it be for 
financial or more, let's just say, devious reasons.
  I am proud to represent the great State of Florida. They have been 
aggressive about illegal immigration. In one of my first days in the 
Florida Legislature, one of the bills that was introduced was to give 
the illegal aliens a driver's license, a ticket to ride, so to speak. 
Fortunately, we were able to kill such legislation.
  Congressman Unger back in 2008 passed legislation to get tough on 
sanctuary cities. Those policies simply work. I think what all of us 
want, whether on the left side of the aisle or our side, we want 
problem solvers in America again. We want people who just want to come 
here and get things done.
  Candidly, I think that is why so many people love President Trump. He 
is a problem solver. He looks at a problem in a common sense way. He 
doesn't automatically put a Republican or a Democratic spin on it. He 
said: How do we solve the problem? He talked to the experts. He put 
those items in place, and the border crisis went away in his first 
term. He implemented those policies once again 2 weeks into office, and 
we are back in a successful border. Without a successful border, we 
simply don't have a nation.
  Again, I am encouraged by these actions. I am just amazed that the 
prior President and his team would turn their backs on the American 
people who gave them this opportunity to lead. It is going to be a 
challenging time to get this thing right. The good news is that with 
President Trump in place, we have seen the changes in a clear and let's 
just say discernible way.
  As we look at the testimony earlier by Congressman Knott, it is one 
of the reasons I wanted to have this conversation today. A few weeks 
ago before we were actually sworn into office, Congressman Knott and I 
sat down in Boston. I said: What is really happening at the Department 
of Justice? Why are they not prosecuting these crimes?
  As he mentioned in his very eloquent speech, he walks us through the 
crisis. He tells us how simple it is to solve this crisis, and the 
other team just chooses to turn a blind eye.
  The statistics are pretty overwhelming with the number of people who 
were in challenging situations. Just to give you an idea, Mr. Speaker, 
of how frustrating it is to so many people on this issue. As the Biden 
administration was winding down, they were actually looking to sell off 
the very border wall that the American public had already paid for. You 
talk about insulting; it is to the highest degree. They are literally 
letting this metal rot and rust in the desert instead of just simply 
putting it up.
  I am glad to see, I must admit, one of the real highlights of my 
early career here in Congress was actually seeing the bipartisanship 
that was shown on the Laken Riley bill. It was a pleasant surprise 
given the rhetoric of the prior 4 years. I hope it is a sign of things 
to come.
  I happen to serve on the Financial Services Committee, I serve on the 
Science Committee, and I chair the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. 
Those should be bipartisan solutions in which we come across the aisle 
and solve problems as opposed to pointing fingers.
  I really appreciate the kind words of the President this morning 
during his address at the National Day of Prayer. He talked about 
reaching across the aisle and solving problems in a concrete way. This 
issue should be one where we all solve that problem. Again, I don't 
care about who gets the support because the American people support the 
idea of finally closing the gates to these people who come across 
illegally and opening the door once again to smart, commonsense legal 
immigration as opposed to illegal immigration.

  As I get ready to close, I am thankful, first of all, for these types 
of opportunities. America is such a unique place. I noticed as the 
other side of the aisle is going to have their Special Order hour 
today, that we need to have these constructive dialogues. It seemed so 
hyperbolic during the campaign, the pointing of fingers, but it is so 
nice to see a quick and decisive result in talking about illegal 
immigration and how quickly we can solve this issue and truly secure 
our border and remove those people who should not be here.
  I am so glad the President is going after those violent offenders 
first, the ones who have been protected by sanctuary cities. My former 
Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has now taken the reins at the Attorney 
General's Office. She is a tough-on-crime prosecutor. She is not a 
politico. She is a person who has been a problem solver throughout her 
career and who cared about her State and now her Nation. She is saying: 
We will go after those offenders. If the law is not going to be 
enforced and it is a sanctuary city, then move over. We are taking away 
the funding. We are extracting these people who have preyed on the 
system for too long and who have been protected, sadly, by the 
political class in their community. The political class who has been 
turning their backs on the very people who put them into power and into 
office.

                              {time}  1800

  I hope that we can have this constructive dialogue, and I am 
optimistic that the Senate will take up our tough border ideas so that 
we can, again, create a logical immigration system that

[[Page H543]]

created so many opportunities for each of us.
  We each have a story about how our parents, our grandparents, and our 
great-grandparents, for that matter, came to this country. That is that 
dream of America, that they want to come to America, assimilate, and 
live the American Dream.
  Sadly, the actions of the previous administration undercut that very 
ideal because people take a sour view of immigration.
  As I get ready to close today, I am sorry that the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Crank) could not make it back from his other obligations, 
but I appreciate the good words of Congressman Knott, Congressman 
Onder, and Congressman Wied. They have done a remarkable job of putting 
a human face on illegal immigration.
  Let us never forget that the biggest victims of this, besides the 
crisis with fentanyl, are those young boys and girls who have been sold 
into sexual slavery.
  I don't like the term ``human trafficking'' because it is such a 
bland term. The term is ``sexual slavery,'' and I can't imagine the 
horrors that these individuals have gone through as they came across 
the border thinking that they would be given an opportunity in America. 
Instead, they were sentenced to a life of evil.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight on this 
important issue, and I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________