[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 23, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4582-S4583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, in the United States, we justly pride 
ourselves on being a nation of laws. This is one of the things that 
makes our country different from the rest of the world. Economists have 
written about the fact that, while there are many entrepreneurial or 
innovation societies and economies, it is the rule of law, the 
predictability, the enforcement of contracts, and the fundamental 
guarantees of rights that make us successful where other countries 
fail.
  Unfortunately, we have seen the undermining of the rule of law, in 
the last 4 years, by President Biden's refusal to simply enforce our 
immigration laws. And my prediction is we will be paying the price not 
just in weeks and months but in years and decades for what has come to 
be known as the ``Biden border disaster.''
  President Biden's policies betrayed the American people because of 
the lack of leadership in the face of a historic crisis--here, again, 
of his own making--at the U.S.-Mexico border.
  Yesterday, I chaired a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary hearing 
entitled ``Biden's Border Betrayal: Criminal Aliens in America.'' At 
that hearing, we examined some of the false narratives that the 
mainstream media have peddled about President Trump's enforcement of 
our immigration laws.
  We were honored to be joined by two Angel moms whose children were 
murdered by criminal aliens who never should have been in the United 
States in the first place.
  Marie Vega joined us. Marie is the mother of Javier Vega, Jr., who 
went by the name ``Harvey.'' Harvey was a Border Patrol agent who was 
murdered by illegal aliens nearly 11 years ago. I am grateful to her 
for sharing her story, as painful as I know it must have been for her, 
and talking about the trauma that she, her grandchildren, and her 
entire family have experienced over her son's murder.
  Our second guest was Tammy Nobles. Tammy was the mother of Kayla 
Hamilton, who was murdered by an illegal alien who was also a member of 
the MS-13 gang--one of the most violent gangs in the world. Kayla's 
murderer entered our country as an unaccompanied minor and was later 
released into the custody of an unvetted sponsor.
  Mrs. Nobles' passion for ensuring this horrific tragedy won't happen 
again to more families was evident throughout the hearing. I am 
grateful to her, again, for sharing what had to be a very painful 
experience but one she did in honor of her daughter's memory.
  Our third guest was Victor Avila, a former ICE Homeland Security 
Investigations agent who, along with his partner, was shot in the line 
of duty by Los Zetas. Los Zetas is a cartel operating in Mexico and in 
the United States occasionally.
  Victor was seriously wounded that day, and his partner was killed. I 
have known Victor a long time, and he is a steadfast advocate of the 
rule of law and understands what is required if we are going to keep 
Americans safe.
  These families and victims would never have had to suffer such 
devastating loss were it not for the criminal aliens who never should 
have been here in the United States in the first place.
  It was a curious matter to me that our Democratic colleagues claim to 
be the party of compassion when it comes to immigration, but they would 
rather society and the media and Congress turn a blind eye to these 
victims of criminals who entered the country as a result of open border 
policies. That is not compassion. Some of the individuals ICE--
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is what the initials stand 
for, of course--some of the individuals ICE has apprehended recently 
include murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and sex traffickers.
  Our fourth guest was Sheriff Roy Boyd of Goliad, TX, a small, South 
Texas county. He described the horrifying details of human trafficking 
and criminal activities carried out by the transnational criminal 
organizations--this is organized crime--the cartels he has witnessed in 
recent years. He said during his testimony:

       The border has always been a location for criminal 
     activity, however, I never witnessed such an increase in 
     blatantly open criminal activity as I did between 2021 and 
     2024.

  It is truly shocking to think about the sheer number of illegal 
criminal aliens who are currently roaming free in the United States.
  Now, you would think, listening to some of my Democratic colleagues, 
that ICE is arresting gardeners, cooks, housekeepers--people who are 
basically just trying to earn a living. But the truth is, there are 
291,000--291,000--criminal aliens in the United States who are under 
final orders of removal. That means they have exhausted all potential 
legal remedies to be able to stay here, and they have been found not 
qualified to stay, and they have been ordered removed, but they simply 
ignored that order by a court.
  For this fiscal year alone, 213,000 criminal aliens with final orders 
of removal have criminal convictions, while another 78,000 have pending 
criminal charges against them. Even more disturbing is the fact that 
282,000 of these criminal aliens are still roaming free, not being held 
in ICE custody.
  I know Tom Homan, who is the border czar who is heading up these 
efforts, is working to chip away at this list of criminal aliens who 
are still present in the United States who are under final orders of 
deportation. But, again, to listen to the news or listen to some of the 
political rhetoric, you would think, again, that Tom Homan and ICE are 
detaining gardeners and cooks and housekeepers, when 282,000 of these 
criminal aliens with final orders of deportation are still roaming 
free.
  Most aliens with final orders of removal have been in the immigration 
system for almost a decade. They have been litigating their claims in 
immigration courts, some for almost a decade, and many, if not all, 
were given the opportunity to have their day in court. Many of them 
just neglected to show up. They were given a notice to appear in an 
immigration court and if they had a bona fide claim to asylum, to 
present that to an immigration judge. But many of these individuals 
simply did not show up, forfeiting any right they had to claim they 
could legally stay in the United States. But all of this doesn't stop 
our colleagues from across the aisle from claiming that illegal aliens 
detained by ICE are not being given ``due process.''

  We are blessed to live in America, no doubt, and I think sometimes we 
take for granted all the privileges we are afforded and all the rights 
we have as citizens. So it is worth asking the question: What sort of 
process are these illegal aliens actually due?
  While the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights 
apply to all individuals in the United

[[Page S4583]]

States, illegal aliens are not entitled to the same range of due 
process as U.S. citizens, especially when they neglect or refuse to 
show up in the first place when the notice to appear has been given, 
but they simply reject it.
  The idea that someone could break our laws, enter our country 
illegally, and then be entitled to all the rights and privileges of an 
American citizen is awfully far-fetched, and it is not the law. Let me 
be clear about what the law actually says: Aliens who already have 
final orders of deportation, who are being detained for the purpose of 
removal, have already had their due process.
  I would encourage my colleagues on the left to reflect on this before 
continuing to use the buzzwords ``due process'' to mislead the American 
people as they discuss cases that appear sympathetic but where the 
process these aliens were entitled to has simply been exhausted, and 
they lost or they refused to show up in the first place.
  The American people know what Democrats fail to admit: Deterrence--
deterrence--is a critical part of immigration enforcement and 
preventing the flow of aliens into the United States in the first 
place. In other words, if you know that it is likely that if you pay a 
coyote or a human smuggler $10,000 to smuggle you into the United 
States but you are unlikely to be able to stay, then you are probably 
not going to make the decision to make that dangerous trip in the hands 
of a criminal organization to come to the United States. That is part 
of what we talk about when we are discussing deterrence--the likelihood 
you would be unsuccessful, so you don't try in the first place.
  I have been impressed by the way the State of Florida has stepped up 
to the plate by helping the administration open a detention facility 
known in the press as Alligator Alcatraz--well, whatever is necessary 
to provide detention facilities for people who have no legal right to 
remain in the United States because they have exhausted all of their 
legal remedies.
  We have just provided significant additional resources in the One Big 
Beautiful Bill to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to build 
those detention facilities like the one in Florida, as needed, in order 
to detain people before they are repatriated or removed from the United 
States.
  I am hopeful other States will step up in a similar way, and I am 
strongly supportive of creating those necessary detention facilities in 
places like Texas.
  The American people voted overwhelmingly on November 5 for a 
President who promised to enforce our immigration laws, so it is only 
right that our States would work together with the Federal Government 
to facilitate the enforcement of those laws, that the American people 
voted for. I know they are thankful to President Trump for keeping his 
promises, and I look forward to continuing to work with him and 
Governor Abbott to ensure that this work continues in my home State of 
Texas. Together, we are making our communities safer.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.