[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H5915-H5916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IMMIGRATION CRISIS REQUIRES IMMIGRATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, our country is seeing 
unprecedented numbers of illegal aliens attempting to circumvent U.S. 
immigration and asylum laws at our southern border.
  The Department of Homeland Security reported that 104,344 arrests 
occurred last month, making 4 straight months of arrests totaling over 
100,000. That is the equivalent to the entire population of Watauga 
County in

[[Page H5916]]

North Carolina's Fifth District being detained at our southern border 
every 2 weeks.
  Our Border Patrol officers, aid workers, and National Guard units 
have been overwhelmed performing the vital and often thankless work 
upholding the rule of law to keep our country safe. They deserve the 
support of this body, and so do those who have legitimate asylum 
petitions and humanitarian needs.
  As we know, many in this recent migrant influx include women with 
children who want the life of opportunity that this country and our 
freedoms afford. Caring for children and families at our southern 
border need not be a partisan issue.

  Last month, House Republicans delivered $4.6 billion to help manage 
the humanitarian crisis and strengthen border security. While this 
funding is necessary to address the border crisis, more needs to be 
done to modify the law and streamline asylum regulations.
  Rather than pivot to political pandering and policy extremes like 
open borders, we need to recognize the complex failures of our current 
system and address them head-on. That is why I am proud to cosponsor 
the Fix the Immigration Loopholes Act. This bill updates immigration 
law to efficiently process real asylum claims and safely return 
children to their countries of origin. It is past time that we debate 
it on the House floor.
  I call on Speaker Pelosi to continue our progress addressing the 
border crisis by bringing up bipartisan legislation for comprehensive 
immigration reform. The immigration crisis our country is facing has 
strained our country's border security and customs enforcement 
protections to the breaking point. Letting this crisis continue is not 
an option.

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