[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 117 (Thursday, July 24, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H6752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE BORDER CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, wherever I go, people express a growing 
anger over the illegal immigration that is overwhelming our southern 
border.
  People ask me:
  ``How can we talk about securing the border in Ukraine or Iraq while 
our own border is wide open?''
  ``How can we talk about supporting the population of Central America 
when we are nearly $18 trillion in debt?''
  ``How can we talk about giving jobs to millions of illegal immigrants 
when fewer Americans are working today than when this so-called 
recovery began?''
  They ask: ``If the Federal Government can't defend our own border, 
what good is it?''
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot answer them. The fact is, our southern border 
is wide open. It is practically undefended, and everybody knows it.
  The many thousands streaming across it know that if they break our 
laws and enter our country illegally, they will be rewarded with free 
food, clothing, housing, medical care, transportation, legal 
representation, and relocation, all at the expense of struggling 
American families.
  Ninety-five percent of them believe they will get ``permiso'' to stay 
and, at the moment, they are right.
  Until we fundamentally change this reality, the mass incursion of our 
borders will continue, and our Nation's sovereignty will slowly fade 
away.
  The American people are awakening to the danger that illegal 
immigration poses to our country. It is crowding out millions of jobs 
desperately needed by American workers. It is overwhelming our schools, 
our hospitals, our courts, law enforcement, prisons, and our local and 
State budgets.
  Perhaps worst of all, it is undermining the process of legal 
immigration upon which our country is founded. Why should anyone go to 
the expense and trouble of obeying our immigration laws when they can 
reap rich rewards simply by defying them?
  This administration has actively encouraged this crisis with its 
promises of amnesty, and it now needs another $4 billion to feed, 
clothe, and house this new surge. Conspicuously lacking from the 
President's proposal is any serious effort at enforcement or 
deportation.
  The advocates of illegal immigration tell us we need comprehensive 
immigration reform, but what they really mean is extending some form of 
amnesty to those now illegally in this country. Yet, it is precisely 
these promises of amnesty that are causing and encouraging the mass 
migration we are now seeing.
  Any short-term measure this House approves must include provisions:
  First, to rescind the President's unlawful Deferred Action for 
Childhood Arrivals order that has clearly encouraged the current surge;
  Second, to detain all of these new arrivals while expedited 
deportation hearings proceed;
  Third, to provide unrestricted access for law enforcement to all 
Federal lands at the border;
  And fourth, to activate the National Guard in whatever numbers are 
necessary to secure our southern border now.
  Once the immediate tide has been turned back, it is imperative that 
existing laws are enforced before any new laws are considered, 
including:
  Rigorous enforcement of sanctions against any employer who hires an 
illegal immigrant;
  Completion of the border fence that was authorized in 2006;
  Deportation of any illegal immigrant who comes into contact with law 
enforcement or who illegally applies for government assistance; and
  Resumption of Federal cooperation with local and State law 
enforcement agencies to ensure enforcement of our immigration law.
  If we are not willing to enforce our current laws, there is no reason 
to believe that any future laws will be enforced. And until we enforce 
them, we really can't accurately assess what changes might be needed.
  The people with whom I talk are tired of excuses. They are tired of 
promises of future reforms. They want to see our current laws enforced 
and our border secured, and every act of this House should be focused 
on pressuring the President to do so.
  History is shouting this warning at us: that nations that either 
cannot or will not defend their borders aren't around very long.
  Let that not be the legacy of this administration, and let it not be 
the epitaph of the American Republic.

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