[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 30 (Thursday, February 15, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1204-H1207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMMIGRATION REFORM
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Garrett) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. GARRETT. Madam Speaker, it is a somber time to come into this
Chamber as we have colleagues at the other end of the building who
formed something they call the Common Sense Coalition, which is, I
think, a gentle euphemism like so many things in this town are, which
might well be called the ``kick the can down the road'' coalition, the
``doing the same thing again and again and again and again and
expecting a different result'' coalition, or the ``those who do not
learn from the past are doomed to repeat it'' coalition.
The photo that is to my left and to your right if you are viewing at
home is of me at a ceremony at Red Hill Farm in the Fifth District of
Virginia, where a man named Patrick Henry lived.
Patrick Henry is notable as an early patriot who sought to ensure the
blessings of self-determination and liberty for a fledgling nation that
determined that it was unjust that they should be governed by edict
from across the sea and most notably said the words: ``I know not what
course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death.''
Indeed, anyone who signed the Declaration of Independence understood
at that time that they were literally signing their own death warrant,
yet they did because it was the right thing to do.
Today we have degenerated into a political class that knows pandering
and efforts to placate individuals without the interests of the mass
constituency that we all unitedly serve, and that is the American
people.
In fact, when Patrick Henry spoke about liberty one day in a separate
speech, from the back of the room, someone shouted, ``Treason,'' and
Henry responded eloquently: ``If this be treason, make the most of
it.''
What has happened to our leaders?
So that day I spoke to a group of a couple of dozen new Americans
from every corner of the world--from Asia, Africa, the Middle East,
Europe, and South America--who had, in some instances, worked decades
to become Americans and to earn those blessings of liberty gained for
us by people like Patrick Henry, like 1 million nameless faces who died
of combat death, disease, or starvation during a war to end the
horrific institution of slavery, and like Abraham Lincoln and Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
So they, indeed, looked like America--Brown people, White people,
Black people, Asian people, American people--and they earned it. But
what is coming out of the Senate now essentially throws aside the
sacrifices of so many in order to score political points.
It was, indeed, one of the greatest honors of my life to welcome
those new brothers and sisters to our American family. Yet the process
through which they pained and labored does not in any way mirror the
process that we would continue by kicking the can down the road under
the proposed Senate ``compromise.''
I could really, literally, do this all day, all week, all month, and
all year if I wanted to highlight the cases of individuals who had lost
their lives because our Federal Government is completely unwilling to
enforce the laws that it currently has on the books.
{time} 1245
Many of you recognize the lovely face of Kate Steinle, who was
enjoying a beautiful afternoon in the Embarcadero district of San
Francisco on pier 14 with her dad. A graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, she worked in the medical field and had recently moved in with
her boyfriend when an illegal who had been deported 5 times, who the
local government refused to turn over to Federal authorities,
discharged a weapon that he stole from a member of law enforcement at
what he said was a sea lion--which is bad enough--and killed this
lovely young woman whom her friends say loved yoga and helping others.
Reports indicate that among her last words was a plea to her father
to please help. She passed away because we refuse to enforce our law.
Edwin Jackson, a linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts, was born in
the same town that I was: Atlanta, Georgia. He didn't have big-time
football offers out of high school. Indeed, instead of the University
of Georgia or Florida or Clemson, he matriculated to Georgia Southern
University. But he worked, and he worked with an optimism that radiated
from the very smile on his face.
[[Page H1205]]
And not long ago, Edwin Jackson became one of nearly 1,000 people per
year who die in alcohol-related accidents involving people in this
country illegally; as well as his Uber driver, Jeffrey Monroe, who
should also be noted. Edwin Jackson's obituary indicated that his
greatest goal in life was to be a positive role model for young people
to overcome challenges.
The individual who was detained had a blood alcohol content of .239,
or nearly three times the legal limit. He had been deported twice
before, tried to run from the scene, and lied to police officers about
his name upon his apprehension.
Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe are dead because we refuse to
enforce our laws.
Denise Mosier, in my home State of Virginia, in 2010, was riding in a
van with two other nuns from the 33-women monastery where she made her
home, aspiring to help people. Her two dear friends were horrifically
injured in an accident that took Miss Mosier's life. This Benedictine
nun had devoted her life to the service of others. Quite literally, you
could find nothing bad that anyone could say about this woman.
The driver who took her life was ultimately charged with DUI third or
subsequent offense. He had arrived illegally in this country and was
only weeks away from a deportation hearing, which he was only having
because of his multiple prior arrests for driving under the influence.
Tragically, our unwillingness to enforce our own laws cost about 10
percent of the community at the monastery where Denise Mosier made her
home dearly and cost about 4 percent their life.
In fact, 13 percent of all drunk drivers arrested in the United
States every year are here illegally--13 percent of 1.5 million. And
the death toll of drunk-driving-related offenses in this country is
about 10,000 per year. So extrapolating those numbers, nearly 1,000
people per year are killed in alcohol-related accidents involving those
here illegally. And we refuse to enforce our own laws.
Peter Hacking was a volunteer fire department captain in Texas. One
afternoon not long ago, Peter stopped off Highway 78 to pick up his
children, which included 4-year-old Ellie and a son who was 2, when
they were killed by a previously deported drunk driver, who ultimately
received a sentence of about 2 years, and who was here because we will
not secure our border and we will not enforce our laws.
Let me be clear: those two dozen or so individuals whom I had the
great honor--of all faiths and all creeds from around the world--of
welcoming into our American family are American just like everyone
watching this today. But those who are not here legally, who will not
go through the processes prescribed by this very body, are a discredit
to those who work so hard and those who have sacrificed so much to make
this Nation the beacon of freedom that it is. And no nation of laws can
perpetuate itself so long as it looks the other way as its laws are
selectively enforced and not enforced.
Tessa Tranchant, from Virginia Beach, Virginia, was riding with a
girlfriend and killed by a drunk driver here illegally.
Danny Oliver and Michael Davis were law enforcement professionals
from Sacramento, California. They were murdered by a frequently
deported individual who swears that he will find a way to kill more
police officers.
Dominic Durden was killed while riding his motorcycle by an illegal
drunk driver.
Jamiel Shaw was brutally shot and murdered by an illegal.
Marilyn Pharis, who devoted her life to the service of this Nation in
the United States Air Force, was beaten, tortured, raped, and murdered
by an illegal who had been arrested 6 times in 15 months, the most
recent time being 8 days before this crime was perpetrated but not
reported to Federal authorities because the sanctuary community that
she was in did not deem it worthy to report.
I want to see a healthy and robust immigration system into this
country, legally. I want to live in a nation that enforces the very
laws that these bodies pass to protect those people who we are tasked
with serving, the American people, be they naturalized or native born.
I literally could keep telling these stories for weeks and weeks and
weeks.
So we now find fiscal responsibility a rallying cry from individuals
who don't seem to care about that at any point in time except for when
it is convenient to their political agenda. We have a President in the
White House who suggested that we would build a border wall and we
would have those who are responsible for the immigration problem pay
for it. We have a media that glowingly and gleefully pokes fun and
asks: How is that plan going for you?
Well, I have a proposal. About 92 percent of foreign nationals in
U.S. Federal prisons are here illegally. That is over 9 out of 10. That
comes out to about 34,500 inmates in our Federal prison system here
illegally. And they are not here for immigration violations. They are
here for robbery; they are here for rape; they are here for murder.
The cost to incarcerate one individual in the Federal prison system
annually is about $32,500. I'm not that good at math, but that comes
out to about $1.1 billion per year. If you move away from the Federal
prison system and extrapolate those numbers across the State prison
systems, you are looking at something like $9.5 billion per year to
incarcerate illegals here convicted of violent crimes, felonies. We are
talking about prisons, not jails.
Now, the Senate plan says: Okay. Well, what we are going to do is we
are going to spend $18 billion over 10 years.
I will tell you what. If we can just secure the Southern border and
stop the inflow of illegals, we could reduce our Federal and State
prison expenditures by about $9.5 billion a year, and I'll get you your
$18 billion in 2 years.
In other words, you want to pay for this wall?
Build it; it will pay for itself. And that is in dollars and cents.
But, folks, how do you quantify the lives of these people?
How do you put a dollar value on the life of a woman who spent her
entire life serving our country and was tortured, raped, and murdered
by someone who had been arrested just 6 days before and, under the
Federal law, should have been reported to Federal authorities, but they
didn't think it was necessary in California?
Or Jamiel, is there a dollar value you can put on this young man's
life?
How do you quantify these lives? How about these law enforcement
professionals? How about this teenage girl from Virginia Beach,
Virginia? How about a firefighter and father of a 22-month-old and a 4-
year-old? How about a nun who devoted her entire life to serving
others? How about a football player who worked his way up from the
bottom and only wanted to motivate and inspire young people who faced
challenging circumstances?
I genuinely love my brothers and sisters of all races, creeds, and
origins; I genuinely do. I welcome them to apply to a process to allow
them to avail themselves of the benefits of, I believe, the greatest
Nation the Earth has ever seen. Winston Churchill said: ``Democracy was
the worst form of government, except for all the others.'' This is the
worst country in the world, except for all the others.
But if we won't enforce the laws that we pass, who are we? What have
we become? And if we won't protect those people who protect us--
firefighters, police officers, nuns, and mothers--how can we look at
ourselves?
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Budd).
Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from Virginia
for yielding. I really thank him for his leadership on this issue.
The last time I spoke on this floor on immigration, I talked about
three principles: One, Americans have the right to determine who
becomes citizens through laws; two, the people who do come here should
be in the best interest of American citizens; and three, that we have
the right to enforce those choices.
The people who do come here should be in the best interest of
American citizens. That is key. What we are doing now isn't there yet.
We allow, today, one individual to get a green card. Then he is able to
sponsor his immediate family and relatives. And then the relatives can
sponsor their relatives. Then the relatives of those relatives can
sponsor their relatives and so on, until there is no one in the family
left to sponsor or no one left who
[[Page H1206]]
even wants to come to the United States.
Potentially, this could go on forever. This is called chain
migration, and 65 percent of our green cards are awarded through this
chain migration. That is about 700,000 people every year gaining
permanent residence in our country through no other criteria than that
they happen to be related to someone who lives here.
We have no idea whether these individuals are going to be
economically successful. We have no idea whether they will contribute
to our country. We don't even look at those characteristics for chain
migration. The important question is who the immigrant is related to,
not whether or not he might help America be a safer or a more
prosperous country. Chain migration does not meet that key principle.
American immigration should be in the best interest of Americans.
The Securing America's Future Act ends this chain migration. It stops
it for everyone except the children and spouses of immigrants. But
those relatives cannot bring in additional immigrants, so the chain is
broken. The Securing America's Future Act, in turn, replaces those
immigrants with skilled workers, workers who could help us build a
better future.
I think about it this way: there are 150 million people around the
world who would say that they would emigrate to the United States if
they were just given the opportunity. What a great country. We could do
what we do now and let those people enter on the basis of who they are
related to. That is what we are doing. Or we could let in the best
engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, and businessmen. We can let in
those who could speak English well, who know our system of government,
who have gone to university. But that can only happen if we end chain
migration.
The chain migration proposal in the Securing America's Future Act
becomes even more crucial when we look at the DACA issue. If we allow
DACA recipients to get some form of residency, past history tells us
that they will potentially sponsor around 3\1/2\ immigrants each. That
is a 2- to 3-million-person increase in the immigrant population. That
is a huge incentive for future immigrants to come here illegally.
{time} 1300
The notion that you will get to bring your whole family over here if
you manage to enter illegally is part of what led to the 2013-2014
border crisis. When the previous administration was rumored to be
granting amnesty, tens of thousands of Latin American families sent
their minor children north.
It was a national emergency, and it overwhelmed the Border Patrol and
the immigrant processing facilities there in the Southwest. We had to
pass emergency appropriations just to process these individuals. Any
DACA fix that does not also include additional border security and
protections against those migrating this way, they could really see a
similar crisis.
Madam Speaker, the Securing America's Future Act is an incredible
piece of legislation. And while I have dwelt on its chain migration
provisions--and there are many more worthy reforms--this bill cracks
down on sanctuary cities, which my colleague mentioned earlier. It
includes Kate's Law to toughen penalties against those who are
deported, come back to the United States, and commit crimes. It
includes mandatory E-Verify to crack down on businesses that break the
law. It ends the diversity visa lottery, one of the most senseless
Federal policies that I can think of.
I thank Chairman Goodlatte for his efforts on this; I thank
Representative Labrador, one of our staunchest conservative leaders in
the House, for his leadership in crafting this bill; and I thank
Representative Garrett for organizing this opportunity to discuss the
bill.
Mr. GARRETT. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Budd for his
comments.
At this time, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida, (Mr.
Yoho).
Mr. YOHO. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my good colleague from
Virginia (Mr. Garrett) and everybody else who has participated in this
important topic.
For far too long, Washington has allowed our broken immigration
system to fester. Since 1986, when safeguards were put in place to
protect our Nation from illegal immigration, we have seen the rule of
law not followed, and it has led to the situation we have today. This
is not an overnight sensation that just has happened.
If you look at the number one role of government, it is to provide
for the common defense of our Nation and the security of our Nation.
Madam Speaker, you cannot have a secure nation if you don't have secure
borders. That is one of the reasons we lock our car doors. That is one
of the reasons we lock our house doors is to secure our family.
Well, the government's role is to secure their Nation and the people
within it so that we can have a secure nation, the peace of mind that
our families are protected from people that shouldn't be here in the
first place. We need to reform our system so that we have legal
immigration that is not burdensome to the point where it doesn't work,
and that is what Washington has been well known for. We need to seek
real reforms that cut down on illegal immigration while protecting and
bolstering the legal immigration system.
Our Nation is a nation of immigrants, and Theodore Roosevelt
addressed this, I think, very succinctly in 1907 in a speech when he
talked about our land being a land of immigrants, how we have come over
from other countries from around the world. But he also went on to say
and talk about the values of America, that we, being a land of
immigrants, understand this: There is but room for one flag. It is the
American flag. You need to honor it. There is room but for one
language. It is English. You need to learn it.
Immigration without assimilation is an invasion, and that is really
what we have, an invasion, because we don't know who is here. We don't
know where they came from.
And Dreamers who were brought here to this country, I think we are
all sympathetic. They were brought here to this country at no fault of
their own and registered with DHS under DACA. There is a program where
they could have registered. They are a different class, but they can be
handled in a systematic manner, whether it starts off with probationary
periods, running background checks, ensuring all fines are paid for
outstanding traffic tickets or other, among other things. And I stand
with and I am a cosponsor of the Goodlatte-Labrador bill. I think it is
a great start. As immigration policies or as policies up here in
Washington, we know they change over time, and so I think this is a
good start.
We need to strengthen our border--that needs to be paramount--and
tighten our borders through what the Customs and Border Patrol tell us
to do.
You know, there are people who want to build a wall from sea to
shining sea. I think we should build a wall where the experts say we
need to build a wall and do other forms of security, but the bottom
line is we have to have a secure border. And it is not just our
southwest border; it is all of our borders. And I think every American
should be concerned about this, and you would think they would want
this.
We also should allow Customs and Border Patrol to survey and make
recommendations for how they think best we can increase the security
of, again, not just our southern border but, again, all the borders.
Sanctuary cities who openly defy Federal immigration law place
American citizens at risk, and I would hope the people in those cities,
the citizens of those cities, would rise up and hold their elected
officials accountable so that it is not a political platform that a
party wants to promote. All you have to do is look at the many people
who have been killed by people here illegally, and they rush for the
protection of a sanctuary city.
And these are cities, again, that are breaking the Federal law. They
defy Federal law without consequence. Congress does have the power to
hold these people accountable, these States. And, again, it will be the
citizens of those cities, hopefully, who will rise up and say enough is
enough.
The Goodlatte-Labrador bill, H.R. 4760, the Securing America's Future
Act, I cosponsored because it lays out a plan to address many of the
immigration reform priorities: It eliminates the diversity visa, which
is just a happenstance. If you are the lucky one
[[Page H1207]]
who pulls the right number, you get the lottery ticket, and the lottery
ticket is coming here to America. It eliminates the diversity visa to
increase the number of skilled worker visas. It creates a new
agriculture guest worker program.
And I am proud because some of the recommendations we have are in
that bill, and so we want to see that pass. This is one of the things
that has to happen.
But before we can go forward, we have to make sure that the borders
are secured, that the rule of law is enforced, and that we have a good
guest worker program. It also requires employers to utilize the E-
Verify system to ensure their employees are legally able to work in
this country.
The good thing about the E-Verify system, it also gives protection to
the employer, knowing that they went through the process that the
government says they must go through and they have hired people that
the government says are okay. So it gives protection not just to our
employers, but it gives protection to the people here, who come here
for the privilege of coming to America to work.
It invests in a new security measure for our borders, gives
registered DACA recipients a renewable 3-year legal status, while
ensuring individuals who could cause harm are not eligible for it. It
withholds grants and Federal funding from sanctuary cities and gets rid
of the chain migration.
So this, I think, is a very strong bill. I think it is a very good
bill, that it accomplishes the goal. It could always be better. It is
not comprehensive immigration reform, but it is a great start.
You know, working in the agricultural sector for 35 years of my life
as a veterinarian working on the farms, I talked to a lot of the
immigrants, and a lot of the immigrants that I talked to were here
illegally. And I asked them: Do you want to be a citizen of the United
States?
They said: No. The majority of them didn't. They wanted the
opportunity--the opportunity--to come here to make some money to go
back home, and I think we should accommodate that.
And then if you talk to other immigrants who are here and they
migrated here legally, I asked them: Why did you come here? Why did
your parents come here?
And do you know what it always comes down to? They wanted
opportunity, and they wanted security, and they wanted a better life
for their family.
So our broken system does not accomplish that, and it is time to fix
the broken system, and this is the time to do it.
With that, I thank the gentleman for bringing up this great topic,
this passionate topic, and with your work, your help, we can accomplish
this.
Mr. GARRETT. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Yoho), my friend and colleague, for his comments.
In 42 years, 3,037 Americans have been killed on U.S. soil by
foreign-born terrorists. There have been 182 foreign-born terrorists,
to be precise, who have taken the lives of almost 3,050 Americans, and
63 of those 182, or greater than a third, came here legally on visas,
to include the diversity visa scheme. In fact, our office has tried
relatively diligently to calculate the actual death toll of native-born
Americans by recipients of diversity visas, unsuccessfully. These are
difficult data points.
But just in the last few years, the name Sayfullo Saipov has been in
the American news. This jihadist who had an admiration for terrorists,
to include the murderous raping, intolerant thugs of ISIS, took the
lives of eight Americans and injured many more in a truck attack on
Halloween, just last October. He was the recipient of a diversity
lottery visa.
Before that, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev from Uzbekistan was also
the recipient of a diversity lottery visa, and he was arrested in 2015
for conspiring to ``kill as many Americans as he could.'' He wrote:
I am in the USA now. We don't have the weapons we need. Is
it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway
while here? What I am saying is, to get guns, to shoot Obama,
and then maybe get shot ourselves. Would that do? That would
strike fear into the hearts of the infidels.
This legal diversity visa recipient from Brooklyn said:
If this is not successful, maybe bomb Coney Island.
Fortunately, he was arrested before he could bring to fruition his
plans to assault individuals in the very Nation that had so graciously
opened its doors.
It is incredibly interesting to me the results that I learned when my
wife and I engaged in that which is all the rage these days and looked
at our DNA. I found out I had relatives from multiple continents, and I
am proud of that. But I am an American just like those people who stood
with me that day at the home of the great American patriot Patrick
Henry, from Africa and Asia, the Middle East, South America, Europe,
Oceania. They are my American brothers and sisters. They did everything
by the numbers and availed themselves of a dream that we all share.
Those who do not, cheapen the sacrifice made by so many who have come
before them.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________