[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 106 (Wednesday, July 9, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H5880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BORDER ENFORCEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROOKS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, sometimes the gap between 
political hype and reality is so great it demands a rebuttal. The Obama 
administration's border security hype is a case in point.
  In February 2013, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano 
proclaimed, ``the border is secure.'' Rarely has the gap between hype 
and reality been so great.
  Similarly, my Democrat friends and their media allies repeatedly 
boast about Obama's border security prowess. For example, PBS recently 
ran a fluff piece boasting:

       In one term, the Obama administration has deported roughly 
     80 percent the number of immigrants the George W. Bush 
     administration deported in two.

  PBS failed to mention that deportations are only half the border 
enforcement picture. The other half is ``catch and returns,'' whereby 
Border Patrol catches illegal aliens at the border and promptly escorts 
them back without the time-consuming and costly deportation process.
  So, how does the Obama administration stack up if the full picture is 
examined?
  According to Homeland Security data, in 2012, President Obama's catch 
and return record was way below average, with Border Patrol catching 
and immediately returning 230,000 illegal aliens. In contrast, in 2008, 
the Bush administration caught and immediately returned 811,000 illegal 
aliens, almost four times more than Obama in 2012. Similarly, in 1993, 
the Clinton administration caught and immediately returned 1.2 million 
illegal aliens, more than five times than Obama in 2012.
  Why are Obama's catch and return numbers so bad?
  A Border Patrol agent told me on Capitol Hill that Obama pushes catch 
and return illegal aliens into the much slower and far costlier 
deportation process to inflate Obama's deportation numbers to 
artificially make Obama's border security record look better.
  The best indicator of a President's border enforcement record is the 
whole picture: deportations plus catch and returns. In 2012, the Obama 
administration deported or caught and returned 649,000 illegal aliens. 
In contrast, in 2008, the Bush administration deported or caught and 
returned 1.2 million illegal aliens, 80 percent more than President 
Obama in 2012. Similarly, in 1993, the Clinton administration deported 
or caught and returned 1.3 million illegal aliens, 98 percent more than 
the Obama administration in 2012.
  According to Department of Homeland Security data, and contrary to 
what my Democrat friends and their media allies would have the public 
believe, Obama's border security enforcement record is the worst in 
more than two decades.
  But there is more. President Obama repeatedly promises amnesty to 
illegal aliens. As 1986's failed amnesty experiment proves, amnesty 
begets more illegal immigration. Mr. Speaker, amnesty promises must 
stop because they make things worse, not better.
  Further, this administration must stop paying foreigners to illegally 
cross our borders. This is a no-brainer. America cannot give free food, 
free clothing, free shelter, free health care, free transportation, and 
billions of dollars a year in fraudulent tax returns and refunds to 
illegal aliens and then wonder why we have an illegal alien crisis.
  These failings contribute to America's poorest borders and produce 
millions of illegal aliens competing for American jobs, thereby 
creating income inequality via wage suppression and lost job 
opportunities for American citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, to solve the immigration problem, America must 
vigorously enforce immigration laws, stop promising illegal aliens 
amnesty, and stop giving illegal aliens stuff paid for with tax dollars 
forcefully taken from struggling American families. If America will be 
smart and do these things, there will be no immigration crisis, there 
won't be illegal aliens competing with Americans for jobs, and American 
families can better participate in the American Dream.

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