[Pages S2538-S2539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Immigration

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, there has been a lot of wailing and 
gnashing of teeth in the mainstream media about President Trump's 
commonsense immigration enforcement agenda. That is one of the reasons 
he got elected on November 5. It is because the American people were 
fed up with open borders and with the 70,000 Americans who died of 
fentanyl poisoning, not to mention all of the criminals who came across 
the border along with everybody else. But to listen to some of my 
Democratic colleagues talk, one would think that Kristi Noem is 
deporting grandmothers. Well, this couldn't be further from the truth. 
So I want to take just a minute to correct the record to talk about 
exactly what is happening.
  The Trump administration is rightly carrying on one of the most basic 
functions of the government, and that is to keep our people safe. This 
isn't rocket science. This isn't partisan warfare. In order to keep the 
American people safe, we need to keep criminals and gangs off our 
streets, and that is exactly what the Trump administration is doing.
  The Department of Homeland Security recently announced they made more 
than 32,000 enforcement arrests in just 50 days--32,000. This is nearly 
as many arrests as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known 
as ICE, made in the entirety of fiscal year 2024 when border crossings 
and ``got-aways'' were at an alltime high. Obviously, this was not a 
priority for the Biden administration, and we are all living with the 
consequences.
  Of these arrests that have been made under Secretary Noem, nearly 
half of them have been convicted criminals and others with final orders 
of deportation. These are people who were either criminals and did not 
want to appear in front of law enforcement, who were apprehended, or 
people who claimed asylum or some other legal benefit and lost their 
cases and are under final orders of deportation but were allowed to 
remain in the country under the Biden administration. Of these arrests 
that have been made under Secretary Noem, as I said, nearly half are 
convicted criminals. One-third of them have pending criminal charges. 
Nearly 1,200 of them are criminal gang members, and 39 are known as 
suspected terrorists.
  The Department of Homeland Security isn't carrying out this critical 
mission alone. This is a whole-of-government approach, as it should be. 
The Department of Justice is partnering with the Department of Homeland 
Security on a new interagency initiative to crack down on international 
organized crime, known as Operation Take Back America. International 
gangs, like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, have been wreaking havoc, death, 
and destruction in communities across America.
  MS-13, for those who are not familiar with that particular gang, is 
reputed to be the most dangerous gang on the planet. It is composed 
primarily of Salvadoran criminal aliens and has 30,000 members around 
the world, including 10,000 here in the United States. Their

[[Page S2539]]

motto is ``kill, rape, control.'' As I said, they are one of the 
largest and most dangerous street gangs in the United States. Many of 
their leaders are currently in prison in El Salvador for crimes like 
murder, kidnapping, and extortion.
  However, some on that side of the aisle or in the mainstream media 
have actually gone so far as to describe MS-13 as Boy Scouts in 
comparison with the destruction and devastation that has happened at 
the hands of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang known for human 
trafficking, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. This particular 
Venezuelan gang has been particularly aggressive in my home State of 
Texas, where the Department of Public Safety arrested more than 40 of 
the gang's suspected members just last week. In New York, Tren de 
Aragua has been recruiting gang members from New York migrant shelters, 
increasing cell phone robbery activities, and trafficking stolen phones 
back to their headquarters in South America.

  But the reason this gang became the topic at dinner tables across 
America was that they were responsible for the murders of both Laken 
Riley and a fellow Texan, Jocelyn Nungaray. I can't imagine anyone 
would be anything except relieved that the Trump administration has 
prioritized the removal of these gang members from our country.
  The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice 
have shown an ability and a commitment to lock up these dangerous 
international terrorists at breakneck speed. As part of this 
initiative, a recently created task force in Virginia--just across the 
river--arrested 247 individuals in 2 weeks. So this is not just a 
phenomenon in border States like mine. These people are embedded around 
the country--literally, in every State.
  Among these arrests in Virginia was Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 
one of MS-13's top gang leaders, who was charged, in this instance, 
with illegal gun possession.
  Another MS-13 leader, Joel Vargas-Escobar, was arrested in New York 
just last week. This particularly dangerous criminal was most recently 
arrested for his alleged involvement with 11--11--murders, but this was 
not his first run-in with the law. He was previously arrested and 
deported back in 2018, but due to the Biden administration's open 
border policies, he was able to illegally enter the country again.
  The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that, in less 
than a week, ICE has arrested 68 gang members of the Venezuelan gang 
that I mentioned a moment ago.
  With Secretary Noem and Attorney General Bondi at the helm, I think 
we can all sleep more easily knowing that law enforcement is finally 
able to do their job, which is to enforce the law--something the Biden 
administration seemed positively allergic to. As a result, our homeland 
will be safer and more secure.
  The Trump administration is committed to dismantling these 
international criminal organizations that have created so much havoc 
and heartache throughout our country. It should be obvious and 
universal that keeping our citizens safe is not a partisan exercise. It 
is nothing more than common sense, and it is actually the 
responsibility of government to enforce the laws that Congress passes. 
Refusing to arrest and lock up criminals who never should have been in 
the country in the first place will go down in history as one of the 
biggest mistakes the Biden administration and Democrats have ever made. 
The Trump administration is rightly correcting the terrible mistakes of 
the Biden administration.
  The American people deserve to live in a country where they don't 
have to be fearful for their safety, and that is what they voted for 
last November 5. Parents should not have to worry about their children 
never being seen or heard from again simply because they go for a jog 
like Laken Riley did. Far too many innocent people have lost their 
lives because of the Biden administration's open border policies and 
failure to keep criminals and gangs out. It is incomprehensible to me 
that the President of the United States refused to enforce the laws, 
and it has resulted in so much pain and misery and heartache among so 
many people in this country.
  The Trump administration's, by contrast, arrests and deportations of 
criminal migrants here is part of the solution, not part of the 
problem.
  I am confident the American people know nonsense when they hear it, 
even when it is broadcast over mainstream media, and the fearmongering 
that we hear on the left about the Trump administration's efforts to 
keep all Americans safe are nothing more than that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business for up to 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.