Serious Debate on Immigration

Floor Speech

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Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, sometime in the next month, there is going to finally be a serious debate on the number of people streaming across our border. It may be over an appropriations bill. It may be over an aid bill to Ukraine. There are going to be a lot of people who say there are other issues more important than this and to just wait a little longer to solve the problem at the border.

We have waited for 3 years to do something at the border as the Biden administration has watched the number of people who crossed the border every month go from 10,000 to 20,000 to 370,000 people. That is unacceptable.

We had testimony in my subcommittee last week that the people who are coming across the border are 3\1/2\ to 4 times as likely to commit a crime as the native-born, and we saw tragedy in Atlanta just on that topic.

We know very well, if you talk to people, that all of these people streaming across here have to live somewhere and are partly responsible for the increase in rental costs that we have across our country.

We don't want to shut down the government, and we don't want to say no more aid to Ukraine, but we have no choice. If it is not now, when? We have waited 3 years.

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