[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 181 (Thursday, November 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7034-S7035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IMMIGRATION

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, a few weeks ago, there was a lot of media 
attention on the caravan from Central America coming up through Mexico 
and making its way to the United States intending to declare asylum or 
to cross the border illegally. This is kind of interesting because 
people don't realize that we have within our laws that if a person 
declares asylum, it has to be acted upon as a matter of routine. We 
have heard all about people declaring asylum. They get a court date, 
and then they are not showing up for court. We know that happens--it is 
really a no-brainer--but nonetheless it has been going on and on and 
on.
  In fact, the law prescribes that anyone coming to this country to 
seek asylum will be coming into the country through other countries, 
and they must first go to whatever country they go through before 
coming to the United States. In other words, someone coming from 
Central America, if they are coming through Mexico, should not go to 
the United States but to Mexico to seek asylum.
  Now, asylum is not very well-defined. Anyone can come in and say: My 
life is in danger, and therefore I need the opportunity to come across 
the border into the United States. We all know what happens. Back in my 
real life, I spent some 20 years on the border. I was a builder-
developer, and I know how the border works. I know the border agents. I 
have spent time down there. They wonder why we don't have a solution.
  Anyway, we are told that migrants are escaping violence and 
persecution, but once they get to this country and someone asks, they 
say, no, in reality, they are seeking the economic opportunities that 
we taxpayers are paying for in the United States or they maybe want to 
reunite with their families. I think anyone within earshot right now 
would want to do the same thing for their families. So this has been 
going on for a long time, and while this caravan has rightfully 
garnered a lot of attention, it is really part of a much larger 
problem.
  In fiscal year 2018 alone, more than 396,000 people were caught 
illegally crossing our southern border by Customs and Border Protection 
agents--an average of more than 7,500 a week. They come because they 
know our border is porous and, if caught, they can always game our 
legal system and stay. They have been doing it now for years. While the 
problems are not new, the caravan brings a renewed spotlight to our 
vulnerabilities. We have to secure our borders, and we have to tackle 
the policies that encourage abuse of our immigration system.
  After decades of seeing our border breached over and over again, 
voters responded very actively to President Trump when he was pledging 
to address our immigration crisis by building a wall. Here is the 
thing: Walls work. We know they work. We are about the only one who 
doesn't have walls. We are talking about walls that have been in 
discussion, proposed by this President and proposed by many of us in 
this body. DHS estimates a wall will deter 90 percent of illegal 
crossers. So walls do work. We know they work. Nearly 2,000 miles--the 
figure they have been using and I believe is pretty accurate--will take 
an estimated $25 billion to fully secure our southern border.
  I have heard my colleagues describe how we couldn't pay for a wall 
and, after all, we don't need to grow our deficit or use tax dollars to 
pay for it. That is why I am introducing the Wall Act of 2018, to build 
the wall and secure our border. We have talked this over and determined 
this will work. It is very simple. It provides $25 billion--actually, 
more than that--for a wall by eliminating Federal benefits going to 
illegal immigrants.
  We have a lot of liberals in both bodies of Congress who are going to 
say we can't do that. Liberals are always great about giving things 
away, and I think of Margaret Thatcher when I think about this: 
Socialism is a wonderful thing, until we run out of other people's 
money to give away. That is exactly what is happening right now.
  Under current law, noncitizens who are not allowed to work are able 
to receive the earned-income tax credit--a refundable tax credit. They 
are eligible because applicants do not need to provide work-authorized 
Social Security numbers. Very simply, prior to 2003, the Social 
Security Administration routinely issued Social Security numbers to 
anyone needing a driver's license or a bank account. We have stopped 
that now, but those numbers still exist and allow for illegal 
immigrants to obtain Social Security numbers and receive this 
refundable tax credit and possibly other Federal benefits.
  More significantly, the bill we are introducing would require the tax 
filers themselves to provide a work-authorized Social Security number 
to receive the refundable child tax credit. Now, under the law, filers 
only have to provide a Social Security number for a dependent they are 
claiming to receive a tax credit and a refundable portion. That is 
under the current law. An illegal parent with legal dependents at the 
end of a tax year could get a child tax credit check for as much as 
$1,400 per child, and that check comes from Uncle Sam. By closing these 
loopholes, we can save billions of dollars a year. We can also save 
even more taxpayer dollars by ensuring the integrity of other Federal 
welfare programs like SNAP and TANF. By mandating that all States use 
the E-Verify system, we can add an additional layer of integrity to 
ensure the legal work-eligible status of benefit recipients.
  These are commonsense reforms. You have to ask the question, Why 
would we not do this? Only those legally in this country and eligible 
for work should be receiving Federal benefits that are intended to get 
people out of poverty and get them back to work. This is something that 
actually would work, and they are all common sense. It is one of the 
things that falls into the category of ``why don't we do it.'' We have 
an opportunity to go ahead and do it now. Only those who are legally in 
this country and eligible for work should be receiving Federal benefits 
intended to get people out of poverty and into jobs.
  Finally, in this bill is actually an additional amount that is out 
there that we should be taking advantage of. This bill will increase 
the minimum penalty for every illegal border crossing. Over the past 5 
years, there has been an average of 500,000 illegal border crossings 
each year. By raising the minimum penalty on illegal border crossings, 
the Federal Government would raise revenue by as much as $15 billion 
over a 10-year period. All of this more than pays for a wall.
  Our President rightfully demanded a wall not be paid for with hard-
working Americans' tax dollars, and my bill fulfills that commitment by 
not altering a single earned benefit for any American citizen or lawful 
immigrant.
  I was having a news conference last week on this bill. Someone said: 
Well, the President has said Mexico should pay for it. In a way, this 
fulfills that commitment, too, because it is being paid for by benefits 
that would otherwise go to illegals who would not be getting the 
benefits. So it is the best of both worlds, and it is a solution to the 
problem. It is what American families deserve, but even more, it is 
what the hard-working, lawful men and women who are abiding by our 
immigration process deserve.
  So that is the bill we are going to be introducing and we will be 
hearing a lot about. One thing people say has not been resolved is, how 
do you come up with $25 billion for a wall? It is easy. It can be done. 
The figures match. It is the right thing to do for our lawful 
Americans.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page S7035]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________