Gallagher: "Situation at Border is Out of Control"

Press Release

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) today released the following statement on the Biden Administration's failure to address the ongoing crisis at the southern border.

"The situation at the border is out of control and the Biden Administration is propagating a media lie about border patrol agents being racist in order to distract from their abject failure to secure the border.

"Just this week, thousands of Haitan illegal immigrants were released into the country. The immigration court system is not equipped to handle this, in part because immigration court judges do not have contempt authority. Thus, illegal immigrants come here, are given a court date that could be years away since the system is backlogged, and often do not show up because our judges cannot enforce discipline in the system. That is why I have introduced a bill to give our immigration court judges contempt authority. As the Heritage Foundation has said, 'Giving immigration judges the authority to punish contempt is not partisan--Congress overwhelmingly voted to give them that authority 22 years ago...While not a panacea, it is a small but important tool that immigration judges need to efficiently manage their enormous caseloads.'

"Congress must take significant action to address this crisis. Giving immigration judges this basic authority is an obvious place to start."

Earlier this year, Rep. Gallagher introduced a package of bills that would help address the crisis at the southern border, including H.R. 1120, the Empowering Immigration Courts Act. This bill would give ensure immigration judges are not treated as a second-class of judges by giving them the authority to impose criminal fines on anyone in contempt of their court.

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