Hearing of the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee - Interior Immigration Enforcement Legislation

Hearing

In 1986, Congress and the President promised Americans vigorous interior enforcement of our immigration laws in exchange for amnesty for 3 million unlawful aliens, but that promise was never kept. Today, nearly 30 years later, this Committee is holding a hearing on three immigration bills which will finally deliver on the promise of robust interior enforcement.

All of these bills were introduced in the last Congress. One was introduced by Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy and provides for crucial tools for the enforcement of our immigration laws within the interior of the United States. The second and third bills ensure that aliens apprehended along our borders are promptly removed and do not abuse our generous immigration laws. The second bill, introduced by Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, deals with asylum abuse and fraud within our immigration system. The third bill, introduced by John Carter, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Homeland Security, addresses the need to treat unaccompanied alien minors consistently so that they can be safely and expeditiously returned to their home countries.

Successful immigration reform must address effective interior enforcement and the swift removal of those aliens who are apprehended along the border. This is an integral piece of the puzzle. We can't just be fixated on apprehending aliens along the border, which undoubtedly is an issue of paramount concern. We must also focus on what happens to those aliens who are apprehended, those who make it past the border, and those who violate the terms of their visas. That is what these three bills do.

The immigration enforcement bill introduced by Trey Gowdy decisively strengthens immigration enforcement. The primary reason why our enforcement system is broken today is because administrations have often ignored the enforcement of our immigration laws. The current Administration has turned non-enforcement into an art form.

When President Obama announced unilateral changes to our immigration system with a wave of his "pen and cell phone" on November 20, 2014, he indicated that he would allow millions of unlawful and criminal aliens to evade immigration enforcement. He did this with the issuance of new so-called "priorities" for the apprehension, detention, and removal of aliens. Under the Obama Administration's new enforcement priorities, broad categories of unlawful and criminal aliens will be immune from the law. This means that these removable aliens will be able to remain in the U.S. without the consequence of deportation. To make matters worse, even the most dangerous criminals and national security threats can cease being a "priority" for removal if there are undefined "compelling and exceptional factors."

We cannot allow this or any other President to shut down federal immigration enforcement efforts unilaterally. Mr. Gowdy's bill will prevent this from happening by giving explicit congressional authorization to states and localities to enforce their own immigration laws, so long as they are consistent with federal immigration laws. The president may be the boss of federal law enforcement personnel, but he does not control state and local law enforcement agencies. By granting this authority to state and local law enforcement, we can eliminate one individual's ability to unilaterally shut down immigration enforcement.

Furthermore, we could line Border Patrol agents shoulder to shoulder at the southern border and it would not make the border secure. Why? Because once apprehended by the Border Patrol, many of the children, teenagers, and adults arriving at the border simply game our asylum and immigration laws with the facilitation of the Obama Administration. The Administration has done little to deal with the nearly 70,000 minors and 70,000 family units that entered our country illegally last year, other than ensure that their claims will be heard years down the road. In the meantime, these aliens can abscond, and eventually fail to appear for their hearings. The Administration has also done little to deal with the abuse of the credible fear process by aliens apprehended at the border.

Judge Carter's bill amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 so all unaccompanied alien minors are treated the same as Mexican youth for the purpose of removal. Under the bill, minors who have a credible fear of persecution or who have been trafficked must appear before an immigration judge within 14 days of their initial screening. Others will be swiftly and safely returned to their home country.

Further, if Mr. Chaffetz's bill were enacted, word would get out that bogus credible fear and asylum claims are not being rubberstamped and that claimants are not being rewarded with almost certain release into the U.S. along with work authorization. The vast increase in claims would quickly abate. In the end, it doesn't matter how many aliens are apprehended along the border, if apprehension itself becomes a golden ticket into the country.

The three bills that are the subject of today's hearing, along with Mr. Smith's Legal Workforce Act, would finally provide the American people with a strong immigration enforcement system. I congratulate their authors for introducing these important bills and look forward to today's hearing.

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