[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H1020-H1021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RADICAL OPEN BORDERS POLICIES THAT ARE DANGEROUS TO OUR CITIZENS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Budd) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose a truly radical piece 
of legislation that was recently introduced in this Chamber.
  The New Way Forward Act, as it is called, introduced with the support 
of

[[Page H1021]]

more than three dozen Democratic cosponsors, decriminalizes illegal 
immigration, makes it nearly impossible for border authorities to 
detain and deport immigrants with criminal convictions, and forces 
taxpayers to foot the bill to bring back previously deported criminal 
illegal immigrants.

                              {time}  1015

  Mr. Speaker, if this bill were to become law, it would enable illegal 
immigrants who have committed crimes abroad to be returned to the U.S., 
and it would allow them to gain a pathway to citizenship.
  The bill eliminates the provision in current law that forbids an 
immigrant from entering the United States if they have committed drug 
crimes or any crimes involving moral turpitude. Examples of crimes 
involving moral turpitude include child molestation, kidnapping, rape, 
murder, and more. It is unthinkable that we would allow anyone who has 
committed those crimes to freely enter our country.
  To add to the egregiousness of this legislation, it calls on the 
Department of Homeland Security to pay for the return of previously 
deported illegal immigrants. Under the bill, any immigrant deported 
since April 1996 would be allowed to return to the U.S. as long as they 
met a stunningly lax set of criteria. It is ridiculous to require 
American taxpayers to foot the bill to bring previously deported 
individuals back onto U.S. soil.
  The bill would make it more difficult for ICE to detain an immigrant 
with a criminal record. Agents would be forced to prove that a suspect 
poses a danger or a flight risk without using the immigrant's past 
criminal history as a sole factor.
  One of the Democratic cosponsors on this bill even proclaimed that it 
would end deportation for people who had contact with the criminal 
legal system. I would say it is common sense that a serious criminal 
conviction should lead to deportation.
  Worse yet, this prevents ICE from deporting immigrants who have been 
convicted of crimes with an average sentence of less than 5 years. This 
bill would allow an alien who committed crimes like auto theft, weapons 
crimes, identity theft, and fraud to remain in the country.
  Like many Americans, I want people to enter our country through the 
legal process--we want them here--and then to stay on the right side of 
the law. Legal immigration is what makes our country great. But we 
cannot pass bills, like this one, that incentivize more people to come 
here illegally or imposes no penalty on those who commit serious 
crimes.
  I think most Americans would agree that we should welcome those who 
come to our land in a legal, merit-based way and that dangerous, 
illegal immigrants should not be allowed to come into our country or 
stay in our country.
  Unfortunately, this bill makes a mockery of that principle and 
replaces it with a set of radical, open-border policies that are 
dangerous to our citizens and our communities. It is for that reason 
that it should be soundly defeated.

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