[Pages H950-H951]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  MAKING AMERICA SECURE: HOLDING LEFTIST SANCTUARY CITIES ACCOUNTABLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, before President Trump got into office 
recently, America's security was really, really in doubt, especially on 
our border, so the actions taken by us in this House as well as, very 
importantly, what President Trump has done to secure our border is 
incredible. The numbers are down dramatically from the amount of people 
coming across illegally daily to the mere small number that is still 
doing so now until such point as we complete the border fence and the 
other measures taken to have the border completely secure. It is a 
pretty amazing turnaround.
  Tomorrow, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will 
question the mayors of several of our large cities who seem to be just 
more concerned about the benefits of illegal immigrants than of those 
of the American people. The mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New 
York who have been harboring illegal immigrants as sanctuary areas and 
have jeopardized the public safety of their own constituents and 
drained taxpayer resources will be held accountable in this hearing.
  These so-called leaders have chosen to ignore Federal immigration 
laws. They are breaking the law. They brag about it, and they say they 
will continue to do so. They chose to shield the illegal immigrants, 
including criminals, rather than protect the people they were actually 
elected to serve.
  They chose policies that have overwhelmed law enforcement, strained 
public services, and put American families at risk. They don't seem to 
care that these tax dollars come from the hardworking people who 
actually did have eligibility to vote for them.
  We House Republicans refuse to let this continue and have continued 
to take action.
  President Trump declared a national emergency and deployed the 
military to the border to slow down that massive tide. Indeed, it has 
worked.
  He has ended catch and release where basically law enforcement 
catches somebody at the border, processes them as fast as they can, and 
turns them loose in the country maybe to come back for a hearing on 
asylum supposedly within a couple years.
  He reestablished the remain in Mexico policy so they are not to just 
come into the country. If Mexico is going to let them in from the 
south, then they can deal with it. Remain in Mexico is not automatic 
passage into the U.S.
  He has restarted the border wall construction. Indeed, that makes it 
so much easier for our law enforcement personnel, our border personnel, 
to be able to narrow down the tide coming in and focus on what is going 
to happen there.
  He shut down the CBP One app. He has terminated taxpayer-funded 
benefits for illegal immigrants. We still have States like my home 
State of California who can't give it away fast enough, at one point 
$9.5 billion for illegal immigrants in their health care program at the 
same time that the State is asking for $40 billion to get bailed out 
after the horrific fire situation in southern California.
  He has terminated taxpayer benefits overall for illegal immigrants 
via executive order. We need to back him up on that.
  He began transferring criminal aliens to Guantanamo Bay so they don't 
get away. He classified cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and 
indeed they are.
  He suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. He has clawed back 
DHS funds that were being used for the benefit of housing illegal 
immigrants while at the same time we have people suffering from 
disasters.

  Here we were able to pass the Laken Riley Act to keep violent 
criminals off our streets, especially those who are here as illegal 
immigrants. We passed the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act 
to protect these innocent lives.
  We passed the HALT Fentanyl Act to stop deadly drugs from flowing 
across our border. Fentanyl is an existential crisis in this country 
for so many people. It is so deadly and yet so prevalent. It is sent 
through Mexico so much by China. Mexico is not being a good neighbor 
when they keep allowing this.

[[Page H951]]

  We passed the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act to give law 
enforcement the tools they need, as well.
  The results are that illegal border crossings, as I mentioned, have 
dropped dramatically. Apprehensions have fallen by 93 percent because 
they don't have to apprehend this 93 percent, which is a major victory 
for border security.
  We will not back down. I know President Trump will not back down. We 
need to move forward because we raise our right hand and swear 
allegiance to this country and its Constitution. It is our job to make 
our country strong, to make our country safe, and to serve our own 
citizens who are already struggling enough with inflation and with 
choking regulations in some cases. So much is going against the grain 
of what the founding of this country was about.
  I am proud of the work we have been trying to do here on the House 
floor. I hope we can get more of a bipartisan effort on that as we see 
the common sense of what we are trying to do. The Senate can take this 
up and support the leadership President Trump has provided and the 
results we have seen so strongly so far.

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