[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 146 (Thursday, September 19, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5509-H5515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1815
      BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION FAILURES AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Houchin). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure now to yield to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), the co-chair of the Border Security 
Caucus.
  Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I thank my fellow co-chair, the gentleman 
from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) for sponsoring this Special Order hour with 
me.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce tonight's Special Order. We are 
going to be discussing Kamala Harris' tenure and her appalling record 
as the Biden border czar.
  In this role, Harris has worked not to secure the border of America 
but instead to deliberately dismantle our borders and put our Nation's 
safety and sovereignty at grave risk. Her intentional negligence has 
exacerbated the largest illegal alien invasion in history, one probably 
not seen since the ancient Romans were overrun by the Germanic hordes 
in the 3rd century leading to its downfall, an invasion that continues 
to ravage our communities and our pocketbooks while creating avenues of 
entry for dangerous individuals who are bent on inflicting harm to 
Americans and our American way of life.
  Since 2021, more than 350 suspected terrorists have been encountered 
attempting to cross our southern border. We know at least 99 illegal 
alien individuals from the FBI's terrorist watch list have been 
released into the United States after being in the custody of Customs 
and Border Patrol. How does this happen?
  Shockingly, many of these vile criminals are earning their golden 
ticket into our country through the Biden-Harris administration's 
corrupt and dangerous CBP One app; in reality, an illegal granting of 
parole, by the way.
  Since day one, this administration has viciously striven to reverse 
all of Donald Trump's effective border policies, remove vetting 
protocols for asylum seekers, hand out public benefits to illegals, and 
actively hinder States from safeguarding their own borders and 
citizens. My own, the Lone Star State of Texas, is one of them.
  Border czar Kamala Harris has overseen it all and must be held 
accountable.
  It doesn't take a national security expert, or even a policymaker, 
for that matter, to comprehend that by dissolving our borders, we 
expose ourselves to countless threats from all over the planet. 
Clearly, Harris does not care about the consequences of her own 
policies. In fact, she and the liberal media would rather deny that she 
ever held the title of border czar. She is using semantics to pull the 
wool over our eyes, but the American people see right through it.
  Tonight, you will hear how border czar Harris has failed every State, 
city, community, and citizen of our country; how her reckless policies 
have led to the death or victimization of countless Americans at the 
hands of the illegal aliens that she has funneled into our Nation; and 
how communities and families have been devastated by the costs and 
deadly drugs being smuggled across the border.
  Madam Speaker, make no mistake about it. This is a self-made border 
crisis that Kamala Harris has gone out of her way to create, and now 
the safety of our Nation is in jeopardy. She knows this, just as her 
boss does, and yet the only action we have seen is her running away 
from the consequences of her own failures.
  My colleagues and I refuse to let her get away with it.
  Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. I 
appreciate serving with him on the Border Security Caucus. He does a 
great job there, and I appreciate it so much.
  In Colorado, the Tren de Aragua has been overrunning Colorado 
communities. Border officials have referred to Tren de Aragua as MS-13 
on steroids. These criminals are the worst that the world has to offer, 
and the Biden-Harris regime has allowed them to make themselves at home 
in Colorado communities.
  Larry Medina was arrested by Aurora police in connection with a 
felony menacing at Whispering Pines Condominiums. The victim reported 
to police Medina pointed a firearm and threatened to kill him.
  Jhonardy Pacheco-Chirinos was arrested on a first-degree assault 
warrant out of Adams District Court. The warrant stemmed from an 
assault in November 2023 at an apartment complex.
  Jhonnarty DeJesus Pacheco-Chirinos was arrested in connection with a 
nonfatal shooting the day before at Fitzsimons Place apartments.
  Luis Miguel Calzadilla-Rojas was arrested in connection with a 
nonfatal shooting in front of a probation officer.
  Yoendry Vilchez Medina-Jose was arrested on a warrant stemming from 
an assault at Whispering Pines Condos.
  Juan Carlos Mejia-Espana was arrested following a domestic dispute, 
also at Whispering Pines Condominiums. He had a weapon.
  Carlos Aranguren-Mayora had numerous encounters with Aurora police 
officers and law enforcement agencies throughout the metro area. He 
faces a total of 38 charges, five active court cases.
  Roiberth Daniel Mora-Marquez was arrested in connection with an April 
4 dispute and assault over unpaid rent money. He is also a suspect in a 
nonfatal shooting.

[[Page H5510]]

  Jose Miguel Reyes-Perez was arrested for aggravated assault, 
menacing, and motor vehicle theft.
  This is what is going on in Colorado. I am pleased to yield to the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lopez) to discuss this further.
  Mr. LOPEZ. Madam Speaker, I stand before you today to highlight the 
most disgraceful failure of the Biden-Harris administration with 
respect to our southern border.
  The most important job of a President is to protect our borders from 
invasion of any criminal element that seeks to undermine the safety of 
American citizens, our communities, and our Nation. President Biden, in 
his misplaced wisdom, determined that the best person suited for that 
job was not himself but his Vice President Kamala Harris. He announced 
that as the border czar, Kamala Harris was competent and understood 
what needed to be done to protect our southern border.
  Boy, was he wrong in making that decision. Perhaps Vice President 
Harris misread the memo that stated she was tasked with protecting our 
border, not surrendering it. Her incompetence has made every State in 
America a border State, leaving local governments to deal with violent 
criminal gangs, thugs, murderers, sex traffickers, and drug smugglers.
  In recent weeks, I, along with the rest of the public, have watched 
the events in Aurora, Colorado, with horror. As Members of a violent 
Venezuelan prison gang commandeered multiple apartment complexes, gave 
the green light to kill cops, and wreaked havoc on small Colorado 
communities, this administration insists that our border is secure.
  If this administration won't do anything about the vicious gangs 
running rampant in our country, I will. I have introduced a bill that 
would compel the Department of Homeland Security to quickly detain and 
deport all illegal immigrants with known gang affiliations. This is a 
commonsense public policy that will help keep our streets safe and free 
from the terrors being perpetrated by these animals. I would urge my 
colleagues to join me in this worthwhile fight. A failure to do so will 
inevitably result in more senseless pain and suffering for our people.
  The presence of the gang we saw in Aurora is not limited to that 
town. This group has spread like a cancer throughout our country, with 
incidents in Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Chicago, Florida, Louisiana, 
and New York, among many others.
  A recent CBP report showed that over 500,000 individuals have been 
flown in and paroled by this administration in a massive and largely 
unseen mass parole program.
  Kamala Harris doesn't care about this crisis, and she doesn't care 
about the Americans that she is hurting. She never spoke to the past 
two Border Patrol chiefs who served during the Biden-Harris 
administration. She has only visited the southern border one time 
during the past 4 years. That is not leadership. That is not someone 
trying to solve a problem. That is someone who is trying to hide from a 
problem that she created.
  This crisis has created real heartbreak and human cost. Many men, 
women, and children have been targeted and victims of abuse or 
trafficking. Something not often talked about is the mental health 
impact this has on the DHS law enforcement officers. In 2022, 17 
members of the CBP committed suicide. The point is that something must 
be done.
  We have a moral responsibility to right this wrong. We can start that 
effort by deporting the gang members that have been allowed to breed in 
our country. We should pass my commonsense legislation that ensures 
that illegal aliens with known gang ties are no longer allowed to live 
here and cause havoc.
  I will fight every single day I am here to make that happen. I would 
urge all Members to do the same.
  Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Lopez for his 
comments.
  On August 4, 2024, Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston 
apprehended Guatemalan national Jorge Luis Castro-Alvarado, who was 
charged with raping a Massachusetts resident. Castro illegally entered 
the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location without 
being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official. 
He was convicted of assault and battery on a family or household 
member. The court sentenced Castro to 18 months in prison and suspended 
all but 6 months of the prison sentence.
  In early 2023, Juan Carlos Garcia Rodriguez became one of the up to 
140,000 unaccompanied children with whom HHS has lost contact. Just 
months after HHS lost contact with Garcia Rodriguez, he ran away from 
his sponsor and assaulted and murdered 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez in 
Pasadena, Texas. Garcia Rodriguez was illegally smuggled to the U.S. 
border through Louisiana in 2023 by a guide paid for by his parents. 
Rodriguez was then processed as a UAC and later transferred to custody 
of the Department of Health. Despite this, Rodriguez was placed with an 
unrelated adult sponsor who was also an illegal alien.
  I now yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Van Duyne), who knows 
about the ravages of illegal migration.
  Ms. VAN DUYNE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I 
rise today to address the ongoing and deadly border disaster that every 
week continues to take the lives and livelihoods of American citizens 
all over our country.
  Border czar Kamala Harris has failed in her assigned role to protect 
our country and to secure our borders. I submit that Harris never 
intended to have secure borders, and her primary focus has been to get 
rid of every successful border control measure that we had in place 
during President Trump's administration. From the beginning, Harris' 
goal was to flood our Nation with a tsunami of illegal immigrants so 
they could overwhelm our States and cities with populations that Harris 
ultimately hopes to turn into U.S. citizens whom she believes will 
create permanent Democrat control of the White House and Congress.
  Due to the deliberate actions of the Biden-Harris administration, 
millions of illegal immigrants have been trafficked either by deadly 
Mexican cartels or by the illegal immigrant airlines and other 
transportation assistance run by this administration. This has led 
to horrific crimes being committed throughout America as daughters, 
sisters, and mothers are brutally attacked, raped, and murdered.

  At the same time, Biden and Harris have lost over 320,000 illegal 
immigrant children. They are likely enslaved in sex trafficking or 
forced labor. It is not an exaggeration to say that Kamala Harris has 
brought about a massive new era of slavery that our country has never 
seen. She has inflicted a humanitarian disaster on our Nation. American 
citizens are losing their lives by the hundreds of thousands because of 
this disaster.
  Every week, we learn about new atrocities that are committed by this 
administration against the American people. Just yesterday, a former 
Border Patrol sector chief testified how the Biden-Harris 
administration directed our Border Patrol to hide information from the 
American people about the explosion of illegal immigrants with possible 
ties to terrorism who are entering our country. This former border 
chief further testified that he was forced to release hundreds of 
illegal immigrants every day into communities that were not prepared to 
handle such an influx.
  The actions of Biden and Harris have been lawless, dangerous, and are 
purposefully designed to destabilize our Nation. Truly, there has been 
no more destructive administration in my lifetime, and they should be 
condemned for these horrific acts against the American people.
  Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments.
  Enforcement Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully 
present 28-year-old Salvadoran national charged with numerous sex 
crimes against a child on Nantucket island. Officers from ERO Boston 
arrested Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo September 10 in Nantucket. Aldana 
had unlawfully entered the U.S. on an unknown date, at an unknown 
location without having been inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. 
immigration official. Nantucket authorities arraigned Aldana on July 26 
in Nantucket District Court for one count of rape of a child with a 10-
year age difference and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a 
child under 14.

[[Page H5511]]

  Deportation officers from Enforcement Removal Operations Atlanta 
arrested an Ecuadorian fugitive listed as one of the country's 100 most 
wanted criminals. Officers apprehended Cesar Condor Vaca during a 
targeted operation in Greenville, South Carolina, on January 30. The 
assistant attache in Ecuador notified ERO Atlanta that Condor Vaca was 
wanted by Ecuadorian authorities for femicide. An ERO assessment 
revealed Condor Vaca legally entered the U.S. on March 15, 2021, and 
failed to depart as required. ERO Atlanta officers served him with a 
notice to appear. A notice to appear. He will remain in U.S. ICE 
custody pending removal proceedings.
  Madam Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Norman), who knows the ravages of illegal migration in South Carolina.
  Mr. NORMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for leading this 
Special Order hour. The pictures, the posters of what Congressman Biggs 
is showing demonstrate the horror that people are going through on an 
activity that this administration not only is condoning, they are 
encouraging it.
  When you think about the last 3\1/2\ years, what this administration 
has subjected this country to, it is beyond comprehension. With the 
invasion at our border, he is basically changing the landscape of this 
country in a way that is going to take a long time to come back and 
recover from.

                              {time}  1830

  Yes, we are going to deport them when President Trump takes office, 
but look at the lost lives that Congressman Biggs is showing, the 
members who are brazenly killing Americans.
  Let me read some comments by czar Harris that point out what I am 
saying about this being so intentional. She has not disavowed any of 
the statements I am getting ready to read.
  Harris has called the building of a border wall stupid and useless, 
labeling it as President Trump's medieval vanity project.
  In both 2020 and 2024 campaigns, she has stated that detention 
centers would be shut down if she became President.
  In the Senate, Harris supported cutting ICE bed numbers, stopping 
border wall construction, and opposed all of President Trump's 
effective border policies, including the remain in Mexico policy and 
the title 42 expulsions.
  In 2019, border czar Harris stated in an ACLU survey that she 
supports providing transgender surgeries for detained illegal aliens.
  It is bad enough what she is saying in all of these comments, but the 
scary part about it is she could actually become our President and put 
this country into a further declining position.
  The policy changes which she advocates, along with ending the border 
wall--let me say, on the border wall, you ask any Democrat that has not 
said one word about the illegal immigration crisis, their position is 
walls don't work. If they don't work, then why, every time we have a 
dignitary or any foreign leaders from other countries, guess what goes 
up around the Capitol to protect us? A wall, a fence. It is insanity 
that they are denying this.
  She is for restricting immigration officers from arresting, 
detaining, and deporting aliens; she is terminating asylum cooperative 
agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras; she, as I stated, 
was for ending the remain in Mexico policy; and she is for removing the 
adversarial nature of the asylum process, making it easier to grant 
frivolous asylum claims.
  Folks, this is outlandish. Over 200,000 Americans have died from 
fentanyl. Over the past 24 months, law enforcement has seized an 
average of 2,020 pounds of fentanyl per month. That is enough to kill 
458 million people.
  My issue that needs to be highlighted all across this country is to 
at least have mercy on the children. There are 300,000 plus children 
that have not been accounted for and are either dead or in sex slave 
activity, and this administration, the blood is on their hands.
  I thank the Congressman for leading this charge and the pictures that 
he is showing, because it puts a face on what this administration is 
doing to America.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the gentleman from South 
Carolina.
  Ellen Gutierrez Saez, Johan Salvo Alacon, and Manuel Eduardo Fuentes 
Gomez, three Chilean citizens living illegally in the United States, 
were arrested and believed to be part of a South American criminal gang 
operating in the United States whose members commit robberies, fraud, 
and traffic stolen property.
  That group is believed to be responsible for at least 111 robbery 
incidents since February 2023.
  Nathan Kharim Melendez is wanted in Mexico for the criminal charge of 
causing multiple injuries with a vehicle and abandoning the scene, 
fleeing the scene. He has been wanted by Mexican authorities since 
March of this year when he was named as the suspected driver of a car 
that ran over a 30-year-old woman, her 5-year-old daughter, and 2-year-
old nephew. He was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, in June of this year.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Crane), one 
who knows the ravages of illegal migration in Arizona.
  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity tonight from Mr. 
Biggs.
  Here we stand, 3 years after Kamala Harris was installed as the 
border czar helping to spearhead this administration's deadly open-
border policies, a task she has carried out with exceptional success 
for 42 months.
  The number of individuals apprehended illegally crossing our 
southwest border who are on the terror watch list increased roughly 
3,000 percent from the previous administration. That is a 3,000 percent 
increase on the border czar's watch.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle refuse to call it what 
it is: an invasion.
  I also point out that we just commemorated the 23rd anniversary of 9/
11. I have said this time and time again, but it bears repeating. It 
only took 19 depraved individuals to carry out the horrific attacks on 
that day.
  Since Biden installed Kamala as the border czar, close to 400 members 
of the terror watch list have attempted to infiltrate our Nation. When 
you combine that number with the nearly 2 million known got-aways that 
have evaded apprehension and permeated our communities, the likelihood 
of potential terror attacks in the near future is chilling.
  What has to happen for this administration and this Chamber to say: 
Enough. We will finally take who we are letting into this country 
seriously?
  How many foreign threats do we have to let in?
  How many Americans have to be slaughtered at the hands of criminal 
aliens?
  How many sexual predators have to be granted access to our 
communities before this administration wakes up?
  Kamala's record as border czar is a guidebook for what not to do to 
secure our border and ensure the safety of American families.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Crane's recounting of what 
is going on across our border.
  ERO Boston removed Felipe Augusto De Oliveira, a 23-year-old 
Brazilian fugitive, from the United States who was wanted by 
authorities in his home country for attempted homicide.
  U.S. Border Patrol apprehended De Oliveira on March 28, 2023, after 
he unlawfully entered the United States near Lukeville, Arizona. He was 
subsequently released on his own recognizance by a Department of 
Justice immigration judge, and I am sure we are looking for him still.
  Enforcement and Removal Operations in Miami, in partnership with the 
Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, arrested Giovanni Radu, a 22-year-
old citizen of Italy, who entered the United States as a nonimmigrant 
and violated the terms of his admission. He collected a total of 
$80,000 in the past year using a fake nonprofit.
  He is facing State charges, including organized scheme to defraud, 
failure to register as a charitable organization, and a whole host of 
these things, as well as carrying a concealed weapon during a felony 
and battery on a law enforcement officer.
  One who knows well, because she has some roots in Arizona as well as 
Florida, what is going on in the ravages of crime that is a result of 
this wide-open border is my friend, the gentlewoman from Florida.

[[Page H5512]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack).
  Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my outstanding colleague from the 
great State of Arizona (Mr. Biggs) and also from the great State of 
Texas (Mr. Babin) for hosting this Special Order this evening.
  It is time to call a spade a spade. The wide-open border policy of 
the Biden-Harris regime is quite literally killing Americans across the 
country, and there is no denying this.
  I myself have been to the border nine times, and I have ridden along 
with our agents through their shifts for hours seeing firsthand the 
horror, the trafficking, the crime, the gang members, and the abuse of 
women and children. I have seen the hundreds of thousands of wristbands 
littering the ground along the riverbanks. The wristbands that the 
cartels force people to wear to show which cartel they belong to, how 
much they have been paid, and, of course, what number they are.
  It is such a big operation that the cartels have created the most 
efficient means possible to move people into the country illegally. 
What is worse, the American government, Biden and Harris, are helping 
the cartels do it.
  How, you might ask? Well, it is by taking away critical resources 
from our Border Patrol agents, by not enforcing the current laws on the 
books, and by taking away policies that stop the flow of illegals, not 
by legislative action but through executive action, of course.
  I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that Biden and his border czar, 
Kamala Harris, don't care about the law. When it gets in their way, 
they subvert it.
  It is clear they have zero regard for the American people, despite 
nearly 300 people a day dying of the trafficked fentanyl that comes 
across the border or the thousands who have fallen victim to violent 
crime by illegals. They just simply ignore us and pretend like it 
doesn't happen and it doesn't exist.
  Now, while the Vice President, a/k/a border czar, pretends to care 
now all of a sudden about our southern border, I have a few questions 
for her.
  Madam Vice President, do you know how many Americans have been harmed 
by criminal illegal aliens?
  Do you know how many lives have been forever changed by the violence 
perpetrated against them by the people who broke our laws, who you 
invited here, you flew here, who have crossed our border and harmed our 
citizens?
  As if every town in America wasn't already a border town, I ask this: 
What about the hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors trafficked 
into this country for whom the Federal Government knows nothing of 
their whereabouts?
  The 325,000 kids that have been lost under her watch, what has she 
done about that?
  Do their lives not matter?
  These children have been forced into child labor situations, sex 
trafficking, and abuse. What has been done about that? It happened on 
her watch.
  House Republicans have been correcting the record and shining a 
spotlight on the disastrous crisis at our southern border for 4 years 
now, sounding the alarm of the failures of this administration and 
particularly border czar Harris.
  She is not fooling the American people by pretending to care all of a 
sudden. She is not fooling this Chamber. She is certainly not fooling 
the angel families who have lost loved ones due to the reckless 
policies that she and President Biden have put forth.
  We need a real Commander in Chief, not a czar, not someone who is 
cackling, laughing, and making jokes. It is not a laughing matter. We 
certainly don't need a trafficker in chief. That is what we have now. 
We need a real Commander in Chief, and November is coming.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman and appreciate her 
comments and experience along the border.
  In August of 2023, illegal alien Kindu Jeancy Zamambu was charged 
with felony first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor unlawful 
imprisonment for assaulting a woman at a hotel in Cheektowaga, New 
York.
  Zamambu, a 23-year-old national of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
entered California on February 13, 2023. He was arrested about 1 mile 
west of San Ysidro, which is the San Diego area. ICE enrolled Zamambu 
in Alternatives to Detention and released him into the U.S. Less than 6 
months later, he was assaulting a woman in New York.
  Next, is Daniel Hernandez Martinez from Venezuela. Within 6 months of 
his release in the United States, Venezuelan national Daniel Hernandez 
Martinez committed at least 22 criminal offenses in New York City.
  He is charged with petit larceny on four separate occasions, criminal 
possession of stolen property on three occasions, multiple charges for 
menacing, assault, attempted assault, criminal mischief, possession of 
burglary tools, disorderly conduct, and more.
  He was released into the United States without any legal 
justification.
  In addition to his crimes, DHS records indicate he is a suspected 
member of the dangerous Tren de Aragua gang. Currently, there are no 
DHS records to indicate that ICE has removed him from the country.

  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy), 
someone who knows the ravages of crime produced by illegal migration.
  Mr. LANGWORTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for 
yielding the time and for hosting this Special Order hour to bring real 
attention to this crisis.
  Just last month, a family of four was brutally murdered in the town 
of Irondequoit, New York, just outside of Rochester. Two little girls, 
babies, 2 and 4 years old, were slaughtered in cold blood by a man who 
should have never been on American soil in the first place. They were 
murdered beside their parents.
  The murderer was an illegal immigrant wanted for murder in his own 
country, who somehow managed to sneak across our border, get a fake ID, 
and tear this family apart.

                              {time}  1845

  This is not an isolated case. Just last month, ICE agents from the 
Buffalo office arrested a Peruvian gang leader and a serial killer in 
Broome County near Binghamton. He was responsible for 23 murders in 
Peru. He was so callous of a killer that he had the victims' faces and 
names tattooed on his body, and here he was, hiding in plain sight in 
upstate New York.
  How did we get here? Vice President Kamala Harris, the failed border 
czar herself, and Democratic leaders removed the previous 
administration's border policies that actually worked, that were 
actually keeping America safer, and they allowed this border crisis to 
spiral out of control.
  Kamala Harris has had 39 months to get this border crisis under 
control. What has she done? Not a damn thing. Nothing. No action. No 
accountability.
  What have we seen instead? Record-breaking illegal crossings at our 
southern border and also at our northern border, which is becoming a 
new hotbed of illegal crossings, rampant drug trafficking of deadly 
fentanyl into every community across the country, and violent criminals 
walking right into our neighborhoods.
  It is not just Washington that is to blame. Democrats in my State 
capital of Albany and in New York City roll out the red carpet for 
illegal immigrants in New York State: driver's licenses for illegals, 
check; free housing, food, and debit cards for illegals, check. It is 
as if Governor Hochul and her Democratic allies put up a giant neon 
sign saying: Come on in. We are open.
  Mr. Speaker, New York sanctuary State policies are endangering our 
citizens. This family in Irondequoit paid the ultimate price for the 
Democrats' reckless agenda.
  Under President Trump's administration, we had control of our 
borders. We had policies that worked: building the wall, enforcing 
remain in Mexico, and ending catch and release.
  Under Biden and Harris, all we have is chaos. The wall was halted. 
ICE and our Border Patrol have been limited. Criminals are running free 
in sanctuary cities like New York.
  Let me also remind everyone that 185 Democrats voted against the 
Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act just yesterday. The bill 
is to ensure that anyone crossing our border with a history of violent 
assault, sexual assault, or domestic violence is turned away or 
deported immediately. Mr. Speaker, 158 Democrats voted against that 
bill.

[[Page H5513]]

  I ask my colleagues: How many more lives need to be lost before this 
administration wakes up? How many more families must suffer? How many 
more families must be torn apart?
  The American people are sick and tired of this crisis. They are sick 
of crime, open borders, and endless excuses. Enough is enough.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his stirring 
testimony.
  Mr. Speaker, in November 2023, Jose Barrera Amaya was arrested for 
drunken conduct and fighting. DHS arrested Barrera Amaya, but the 
agency released him on the very same day. Just months after his first 
arrest in March 2024, Barrera Amaya was arrested for stabbing his 
neighbor and his neighbor's brother at a laundromat.
  DHS first encountered Barrera Amaya in December 2021 along the U.S.-
Mexico border. After being expelled pursuant to title 32, press reports 
indicated that Barrera Amaya had reentered the country as a got-away 
through Eagle Pass, Texas.
  Jose Ibarra from Venezuela: Border Patrol apprehended Jose Ibarra in 
September 2022, and the Biden-Harris administration released Ibarra 
into the U.S. just 1 day later because it determined that Ibarra's 
release was warranted due to urgent and humanitarian reasons or a 
significant public benefit.
  On February 22, 2024, Jose Ibarra murdered 22-year-old nursing 
student Laken Riley in Athens, Georgia. Riley's body was found on the 
University of Georgia campus after she had gone for a run.
  A day later, authorities arrested the 26-year-old Venezuelan national 
in connection with Riley's murder and charged him with malice murder, 
felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false 
imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the 
death of another.
  Laken Riley would be alive today if Biden and Harris were enforcing 
the law instead of releasing hardened criminals like Jose Ibarra.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen), who 
knows what the ravages of illegal migration have done to Georgia.
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Representative Biggs, for 
hosting tonight's Special Order hour, along with my good friend Brian 
Babin, as well, talking about the devastating impact the crisis at our 
southern border is causing our country.
  Every State is a border State. Obviously, we have lost a loved one in 
Georgia.
  I got a text, interestingly enough, today from a small rural town in 
my district that basically they said it is a Third World country here. 
This is in rural America. She said that she doesn't mean to complain, 
but they can't even go to the grocery store.
  I am sure it has been said here many times tonight: Over the past 4 
years, the Biden-Harris administration has had an open-border policy. 
When those candidates, when they were running for President, raised 
their hands and said that we would give away free healthcare--every 
single one of them raised their hand. We should have known then what 
was going to happen.
  I don't understand why the American people weren't alerted by that 
because I have been on mission trips to these countries. I have tried 
to help these people in their home country with medical, buildings, and 
other things. They have no healthcare.
  Since the Biden-Harris administration took office, and with Kamala 
Harris as border czar, there have been over 10 million illegal 
immigrant encounters and roughly 2 million known got-aways. Got-aways 
are here for a different reason. It is not good.
  I can't tell you, for the Committee on Energy and Commerce, how many 
hearings we have had dealing with fentanyl, like a mom losing a child 
to fentanyl. It is the leading cause of death of men between ages 14 
and 40 in our country. How can we continue to allow this?
  Worsening the already dire situation, this administration has failed 
to remove 99.7 percent of illegal immigrants released into the United 
States, making every community and every State a border State.
  I have been to the border multiple times, and what I have witnessed 
is this: It is the most inhumane process I have ever witnessed. It is 
disgusting that children are pinned up like animals. I asked the Border 
Patrol where these people get the money to pay the cartels, and I 
understand the cartels, Mr. Speaker, are making $32 million a week down 
there. I asked how they would pay for this. They said that they don't 
have the money. I asked what guarantees payment when they get here.
  This is what we are allowing. This administration is allowing this. 
It is the most horrible thing I have ever heard. They are indentured 
servants in the beacon of freedom, indentured slaves to the cartels. 
Guess what? If those cartels don't get paid, they start killing off 
their family members. How disgusting.
  How can this administration be allowed to continue this barbaric 
policy? They could put an end to it. I don't know why the Vice 
President on the campaign trail hasn't said she is going to stop this 
tomorrow. They can do it.
  I saw and witnessed them coming across in a boat, and I said: Why 
don't you all stop the boat?
  They said: You see those children? If we stop that boat, they will 
start throwing their children in the river.
  How can we allow this, America? Like I said, it is barbaric. These 
are war criminals.
  We lost a National Guard soldier trying to save someone from 
drowning. He drowned trying to save them in that river.
  Folks, I could be here a long time, but enough is enough. The House 
has taken action by passing the most comprehensive border security bill 
in the history of the United States Congress, H.R. 2. The Senate has 
not taken up that bill.
  We must secure this border. Call your Senators. Demand that they stop 
these horrible crimes we are seeing committed at this border.
  Let me tell you something else that nobody's talking about. We have 
the most generous legal immigration system in the world. Why don't we 
talk about improving that system bipartisanly? We should be recruiting 
the best and the brightest into this country, the most skilled. One 
million people per year are legally allowed to apply for citizenship in 
this country and go through the process. We also have a million student 
visas.
  We need to fix this problem and stop this inhumane and really just 
barbaric activity that this administration is carrying on with right 
now. It is disastrous.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for all of his good 
work on the issue.
  Mr. Speaker, Jesus Enrique Ramirez Cabrera was arrested September 7 
after abducting a high school girl in Manassas, Virginia. Cabrera 
allegedly approached the girl on her morning walk to school, falsely 
identified himself as a police officer, and then forced the girl into 
his car, abducting her. Thankfully, the girl was able to escape with 
minor injuries out of the moving car.
  He was found and charged with abduction, robbery, impersonating a 
police officer, and petit larceny.
  U.S. Border Patrol had arrested Ramirez Cabrera on December 9, 2023, 
after he unlawfully entered the United States near San Luis, Arizona. 
U.S. CBP issued Ramirez a notice to appear before a Department of 
Justice immigration judge and then released him from custody.
  Here is another case that impacts Virginia. Jose Fabricio Veizaga-
Vargas, who is a Bolivian, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol on April 
24, 2023. Now, remember this: On April 24, 2023, after he unlawfully 
entered the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, Veizaga was served with a notice 
to appear before a DOJ immigration judge, who released him on his own 
recognizance on April 25, 2023.
  Following his arrest by Fairfax County Police on May 3, ERO 
Washington lodged an immigration detainer against Veizaga.
  The Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court 
convicted Veizaga of misdemeanor sexual assault of a child aged 13 to 
14 and sentenced him to 6 months in jail, but the court then suspended 
all 6 months of the sentence. The Fairfax County Adult Detention Center 
refused to honor the immigration detainer and then released him from 
custody without even notifying ERO Washington, D.C.
  Veizaga was again arrested on August 8--this is all in 2023--by 
Fairfax

[[Page H5514]]

County Police and charged with misdemeanor DWI. The detention center 
refused to honor ERO Washington's immigration detainer again and 
released him without notifying ERO Washington, D.C.
  Fairfax County Police arrested Veizaga a week later and charged him 
with seven counts of felony possession of child pornography, felony 
possession of obscene material with a minor. The detention center 
refused again to honor the immigration detainer and again released 
Veizaga onto the streets without notifying ERO Washington, D.C.
  Ultimately, on August 19--remember, this is all in 2023--in 
Annandale, Virginia, 36-year-old Bolivian Jose Fabricio Veizaga-Vargas 
was apprehended by ERO, Enforcement Removal Operations, and convicted 
of sexually assaulting a Virginia child. He is also now charged with 
DWI and possession of child sexual abuse material.
  The point of it is that we see how much havoc this one individual 
wreaked upon Virginia. That is what we have because of the Biden-Harris 
open-border policies.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good), my 
friend who has seen the ravages of illegal migration.
  Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the distinguished gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Biggs) has led four border trips that I have been on 
during my time in Congress. I have been there six times, but four 
times under the leadership of Mr. Biggs. I appreciate his leadership on 
the Border Security Caucus and his leading this Special Order hour 
tonight on this all-important policy and depicting the harm being done 
in our country, the existential threat to our country, which is the 
border invasion.

  I find it interesting that Democrats don't care about the border 
invasion. They just don't like us to call it a border invasion. 
Democrats don't care about the illegal aliens flooding into our 
country. They just don't like us to call them illegal aliens because 
whether it is their policies on energy and climate, national security, 
national defense, law enforcement--or pro-criminal, I should say--their 
policies on transgenderism, abortion extremism, or this policy of 
tonight, the immigration border invasion, Democrats cannot be honest 
with the American people about what they really believe and what they 
really want to do to our country or they would never win another 
election.

                              {time}  1900

  If the American people fully understood the harm the Democratic Party 
is doing with this border invasion and that they are doing it on 
purpose, that it is the plan that they are executing, then they would 
never win another election. That is why border czar Harris, who has 
massively failed at her one job, the one job we know that she was given 
as Vice President, the border czar job, she is now trying to distance 
herself from this responsibility and the catastrophic impact upon the 
country.
  The fundamental difference between Democrats or VP Harris and 
Republicans on the border and immigration is Republicans believe that 
America should decide who is able to come to our country and under what 
conditions.
  Democrats believe that everyone around the world, that 96 percent of 
the world's population that does not live in the United States, is 
entitled to come to America legally or illegally in spite of whatever 
their background and their intentions might be.
  For them, the noncitizens, the illegals, get to decide and set the 
policy. That is why they will never answer the question of how many is 
too many, or what is the end game?
  Is it because they believe that these illegals flooding our borders 
are truly just unregistered Democrats who will vote for them legally or 
illegally in the next election?
  That is why they oppose the SAVE Act. They didn't even want any 
efforts, any attempt to try to prohibit or prevent noncitizens from 
voting in our elections.
  Are their policies because they want to transform America by flooding 
our country with non-Americans who don't speak our language; who don't 
know or respect our laws; who haven't earned their citizenship or 
demonstrated they can contribute to our society and make us better and 
stronger; who aren't familiar with, much less devoted to, our 
Constitution; and who haven't embraced our values or our culture, so 
that if you flood enough of them in here illegally or otherwise we will 
no longer at some point be America?
  How do they not care about their own DHS's numbers of some 12 million 
illegals who have come over the past 4 years with some 3 million known 
got-aways, the truly dangerous ones who avoid apprehension, who avoid 
surrendering for the free social services, housing, education, 
healthcare, and so forth that is provided by the Biden-Harris 
administration?
  The stress on our public safety has been so effectively shared 
tonight by Congressman Biggs and the others who have spoken before me.
  Do the Democrats and border czar Harris not believe the border 
invasion is happening?
  Do they not believe it is a bad thing?
  Again, if the American people knew and understood the Democrat 
position on the border and the illegal invasion, then they would never 
win another election if they realized they are doing this to us on 
purpose.
  Only time will tell how dangerous the illegals are whom the border 
czar Harris has helped invade our country.
  Only time will tell the harm that awaits the citizens of the United 
States from those who evaded apprehension, those who have the criminal 
backgrounds and the terrorist ties who are trafficking drugs and women 
and children into our country.
  This is Kamala Harris' America, and the American people are paying 
the price as has been described so effectively here tonight. The 
American people have had enough.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Biggs for leading this Special Order 
tonight.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Good for his remarks. It is a 
pleasure to hear from him and have him participate.
  After everything we have heard tonight, it is no wonder that Kamala 
Harris has been working hard to distance herself from her role as the 
border czar. Under her watch, more than 10 million illegal aliens have 
crossed our border, 350 terrorists have been stopped at the border, of 
which 100 of those were released into the country. That is just who we 
know about.
  Since 2021, more than 200,000 Americans have died from fentanyl 
overdoses, and enough fentanyl has come into the country to kill 458 
million people, more than enough to kill every American alive.
  More than 300,000 children have been misplaced under the border 
czar's watch. In fact, she can't even tell you, Mr. Speaker, exactly 
how many are missing. She has no idea where they are. All we know is 
that sometimes you had an individual sponsor receive as many as 40, 50, 
or 60 unaccompanied young children whom we don't know now where they 
are, and we don't vet the sponsors anyway.
  Now, Kamala Harris wants us to believe that she would be tough on the 
border and that she would solve the crisis.
  Why would anyone believe her?
  What would she do differently than when she was second in command of 
the executive branch and designated the border czar?
  The reality is she wouldn't do anything differently.
  We know this not only from her record as the border czar but also 
from the policies she has supported throughout her career.
  Let's just recount some of those. For instance, she called the border 
wall stupid, useless, and a medieval vanity project. That is not unlike 
one of Arizona's Congressmen, Mr. Gallego, who said that it was stupid 
and useless.
  Here we have Kamala Harris saying that the detention centers need to 
be shut down, promising to do so if she was President.
  She has supported measures to reduce detention bed numbers and cut 
funding for border wall construction.
  She opposed all of President Trump's effective border policies, 
including remain in Mexico and title 42.
  She has even said she supports using taxpayer dollars to pay for sex 
change surgeries for detained illegal aliens.
  Does that sound like someone who wants to fix the border?

  Does that sound like a border State prosecutor which she now 
aggrandizes herself as as she goes around the country campaigning?

[[Page H5515]]

  There should be no doubt that if Kamala Harris is in the White House 
next year we will only get more of the same and maybe even worse.
  Mr. Speaker, if you thought 10 million illegal aliens in 4 years was 
bad, you just wait. The American people should not be fooled.
  Now, talking about not being fooled, here is what you have from 
former San Diego Sector Chief Agent Aaron Heitke who told members of 
the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday that the White House 
repeatedly tried to fake America out, to ``quiet the border-wide 
crisis.''
  What was she doing? What was the Biden-Harris administration doing?
  She was shielding information from the press and concealing crossings 
by dangerous migrants with terrorist ties.
  This is what he said: ``I had to release illegal aliens by the 
hundreds each day into communities who could not support them.
  ``To quiet the problem, two flights a week were provided from San 
Diego to Texas. These flights simply brought aliens that would have 
been released in San Diego over to Texas.''
  Each flight cost about $150,000.
  That is what Kamala Harris the border czar did.
  What else did the administration do?
  What else did she do to hide what is happening at the border?
  For one thing, they don't count CBP One entrance or the Venezuela, 
Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua program as encounters. So when you count and you 
see the number, Mr. Speaker, you are not going to see that.
  So what does that mean?
  It means the last 15 months CBP One people have come in and been 
released into the country under that fraudulent, illegal program, by 
the way. There are 815,000 just in that program that they don't count. 
Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua, 530,000 in the same period of 
time, 530,000.
  Mr. Speaker, do you wonder why you have Tren de Aragua all over the 
country?
  By the way, about 6 weeks ago, CBP actually issued from their 
headquarters to the field offices a notification saying: Hey, watch 
out, Tren de Aragua is now embedded and infiltrating the country, but 
it is moving to the Northeast part of the United States of America.
  In the same memo, they said: Also, be aware that Iran and Iranian 
proxies are flooding our border with terrorists.
  That is not Biggs talking. That is Kamala Harris' own administration 
admitting their failure.
  How about this: Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve, just 
yesterday said: Do you know what is causing rising unemployment?
  It is unfettered illegal immigration.
  That is from Kamala Harris' administration. They appointed Jerome 
Powell to be the head of the Federal Reserve. That is what you see from 
this border, Mr. Speaker.
  Do you know what, Mr. Speaker? I have literally listened to some of 
my colleagues in our committee say: There is no crisis on the border. 
There is no problem on the border. El Paso, for instance, is a loving 
community. We don't have a problem.
  Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
  We have a problem not just on the border anymore. Arizona is a 
transit for illegal migration. Phoenix is a hub for human sex and drug 
trafficking. We have got multiple interstates going through there, and 
the illegal migration comes up and goes from Phoenix and is distributed 
throughout the country.
  That is why Arizona, Texas, California, and New Mexico now are not 
the only States suffering under the rampage of an invasion of illegal 
migrants. It is every State and every community.
  So, Mr. Speaker, when you talk about who controls the borders, it is 
the cartels. The cartels control the border. There are multiple plaza 
fights going on right now between various factions, some within the 
Sinaloa cartel in and of itself, going after each other trying to pick 
up pieces so they can control the plaza. That is what is going on.
  Why is it going on?
  It is because this administration refuses to enforce the law. It is 
going on because when President Biden was elected, within 72 hours he 
had issued more than 100 executive orders, many of which were to 
basically emasculate the border security and policy of the previous 
administration under Donald Trump which was so successful.
  I will give you now just one quick example, Mr. Speaker.
  The Yuma sector, the last year Donald Trump was President, had fewer 
than 8,600 encounters. There have been weekends under this 
administration that they have had 8,600 encounters. The Tucson sector 
60,000 per year on average under the previous administration.
  Under this administration, there have been months, nearing 60,000. 
That is what you have to understand, Mr. Speaker. It isn't just 
numbers. These numbers represent people who come in here, some with 
benign intentions and others with malevolent intentions.
  Mr. Speaker, this has got to stop, and it must end now, but this 
administration refuses to do it. H.R. 2 sits languishing over there in 
the Senate. It has been there for 1\1/2\ years. That is a bill that 
would bring this to a halt quickly.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Valadao). Members are reminded to 
refrain from engaging in personalities towards the President and Vice 
President.

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