Stauber Votes Against Legislation that Would Enact Mass Amnesty and Incentivize Illegal Immigration

Press Release

Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08) made the following statement after voting against H.R. 6, legislation that would incentivize illegal immigration into the United States by providing amnesty to millions of people.

"A few months ago, I traveled to Yuma, Arizona to cut through the noise and see firsthand the challenges our border patrol agents face as they work to secure our porous southern border. The border patrol agents, law enforcement officers, and private citizens I spoke with told me the same thing: we are facing a national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border.

"It is disappointing that rather than pushing legislation that would provide our border officials with the technology, resources, and personnel necessary to completely secure the border and prevent illicit drugs, human traffickers, and illegal immigrants from entering our country, Nancy Pelosi opted to bring a bill to the House floor that would only worsen the crisis.

"I voted against H.R. 6 as it would encourage more individuals to embark on the dangerous journey of illegally crossing our border with the hope of benefitting from this mass amnesty system. Additionally, this legislation would offer criminals a pathway to citizenship by blocking the Secretary of Homeland Security from accessing the state and federal gang databases to identify individuals who are associated with dangerous gangs like MS-13. As a former law enforcement officer, I find this absolutely unacceptable.

"America was founded by immigrants and immigrants continue to enrich our nation. However, if we are to continue this legacy, Nancy Pelosi and her caucus must come to the table and begin to work with Republicans on a solution that actually fixes our broken immigration system."

Background:

Under H.R. 6, criminals who have committed up to two misdemeanor offenses would still be eligible for green cards. These crimes include DUI convictions and firearm offenses. This legislation would also prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from using gang databases to establish if an illegal immigrant is a member of a gang.

H.R. 6 would change the number of DACA beneficiaries from 823,283 to somewhere between 2.3 and 2.7 million. By tying true DACA recipients to such a large, unaccountable population, this legislation threatens future certainty for legitimate DACA recipients.

This legislation in its current form will never be brought up in the Senate and will never be signed into law by the President.

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