Southern Border

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration took a bad situation at our southern border and turned it into a complete and utter disaster that puts Americans in danger every day. It is often said that every State is a border State, and that is very much the case, as we see now.

There is no way on God's green Earth that President Biden can spin this any other way. The President can blame it on Trump, blame it on the Republicans, but, for the last 3 years, Mr. Speaker, dadgummit, he has been in control of this.

We recently learned that, in 2023, the Biden administration flew 320,000 illegal aliens into 43 airports across the United States. Let me say that again--320,000 illegals into 43 airports across the United States. Mr. Speaker, that is in your backyard. That is in my backyard. That is all across our great country. They pay for these flights with the American people's tax dollars.

Unfortunately, this latest stunt is not nearly as surprising as it should be. Since Joe Biden took office, over 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States. What is most troubling to me in all of that, Mr. Speaker, 100,000 children are in the system somewhere.

Additionally, these cartels, they are evil, and they are from the pits of hell, and it would be my desire to send them back as soon as possible. Mr. Speaker, 100,000 children are somewhere in this system, possibly sold into labor, possibly victims of sex crimes, possibly victims of many other horrendous acts.

There have also been 8.7 million illegal alien encounters, plus 1.7 million got-aways. Every day, we are hearing about Americans who are hurt or killed at the hands of illegal immigrants. These are people who were released into the United States without being properly checked, and Americans are suffering because of it. A dear family that is very close to me back in Knoxville, they lost their son because of this.

This week, the House is voting on the Laken Riley Act, which was named after a young woman who was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant. He had been arrested three times before and, yet, he was still released back into the United States each time. He was a criminal in his homeland. He is a criminal up here. He should have been deported the first time, Mr. Speaker. If he had, that young girl would be alive today.

The Biden administration is inviting illegal immigrants into this country with its open-border policies. We have magnetized this country. We allow the giving of credit cards, free healthcare. We put them ahead of our veterans. We put them ahead of our citizens, and that is disgusting.

The Biden Administration has been actively fighting the border States that are trying to fix the problem. It has gone as far as filing lawsuits. They are using your tax dollars to fly immigrants into every State, including Tennessee, without telling the American people what they are doing.

Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable, and we need to close the dadgum border.

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