[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H705-H711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1940
ICE UNDER ATTACK
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Roy of
Texas was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority
leader.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from South Carolina
(Mrs. Biggs).
Recognizing the South Carolina National Guard
Mrs. BIGGS of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Texas for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and thank the brave men and
women of the South Carolina National Guard who are currently deployed
here in Washington, D.C.
I have been fortunate to spend time with these young men and women on
several occasions during their mission. I have shared a meal with the
guardsmen. I visited as they prepared for patrol. I have seen them in
action while on duty.
I also thank the families, spouses, and loved ones back home who
carry the weight while their Guard members serve here in D.C. The
families' sacrifice and strength are a vital part of a successful
mission. Their dedication reflects the values we hold dear in South
Carolina. I am grateful to Governor McMaster for standing firmly behind
them on this important mission.
Mr. Speaker, in the coming days, I will be introducing legislation to
ensure our guardsmen are better protected and supported, both during
deployments like this and beyond.
God bless our military. South Carolina stands with you, and so do I.
Suicide is at Crisis Levels in the Country
Mrs. BIGGS of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, suicide is at crisis
levels in the country, and this year it is hitting heartbreaking highs
in my own district.
As a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, I have met with
families in the hardest moments of their lives, and I have seen what
happens when the system fails to connect with someone in a crisis to
get the help that they may need.
That is why I have introduced the Hope Heals Act. When an individual
is in crisis, they don't need a maze of red tape. They need
intervention, a professional to see them, to listen, and to act.
My bill is about making sure families don't get left in the dark. It
is about giving communities better tools to recognize when something is
wrong and the confidence to respond before it is too late.
No one should have to fight the system to save a life. The Hope Heals
Act is about honoring the God-given value of every life and making sure
help is there when it is needed most.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in this mission.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from South Carolina,
particularly for her shout-out to the National Guard from her own State
that has been deployed to the District of Columbia.
Unfortunately, that has been necessary, and I am proud of the
President for trying to make sure that we secure the Nation's Capital.
They are one of the many National Guard units that have been deployed
to do the job that the people of D.C. should be doing if they were
competent and if they were doing what they are supposed to do as the
Nation's Capital. The President is taking charge, and he is leading to
ensure that our Nation's Capital is safe for the American people to
come visit.
I will note that, relatedly, when we are talking about the state of
law enforcement and the state of the security of the American people,
we have heard a lot of criticisms from my colleagues on the other side
of the aisle, both in the House and Senate and generally around the
country, directed at the great men and women of ICE, the law
enforcement agency that is dedicated to the task of removing illegal
aliens and, in particular, dangerous illegal aliens from the streets of
the United States of America according to the law.
They are particularly focusing on and targeting those individuals--I
believe the number is around 1.5 million people who are currently in
the United States under orders of removal. That is, they have gone
through the process. Judges in this country have ordered the removal of
1.5 million people, and ICE is tasked with removing them. Hundreds of
thousands of them are dangerous individuals who have committed crimes
in their home countries, who are trafficking narcotics, and who have
been engaging in criminal behavior in the United States of America.
What do my Democratic colleagues do? They stand up in defense of
criminals, of criminal illegal aliens, and are in constant attack on
the men and women of ICE.
Let's just go through some recent criticisms of the great men and
women who are working for ICE:
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz smeared ICE officers as a ``threat'' to
the public, called ICE reckless, suggested the State is at war with
Federal officers and under attack by ICE, and smeared ICE as the
``modern-day Gestapo.''
California Governor Gavin Newsom likened ICE to ``secret police,''
calling them authoritarian, and calling on the people to push back.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker claimed ICE is turning the country into
Nazi Germany.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul accused ICE of ``terrorizing people.''
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro claimed ICE officers ``make our
neighborhoods less safe.''
Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan said ICE officers caused
``chaos and terror.''
Senator Chuck Schumer declared that ICE does not belong in our
neighborhoods.
Senator Tina Smith called ICE ``a clear and present threat.''
Senator John Hickenlooper smeared ICE as a ``reign of terror.''
Senator Jeff Merkley likened ICE operations to ``fascism'' and
claimed officers are doing nothing but ``terrorizing our communities.''
Senator Bernie Sanders asked people to ``stop ICE from what they are
doing as soon as possible.''
Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed ICE is ``intentionally stok[ing]
fear and tear[ing] communities apart.''
Senator Ruben Gallego said ICE exists ``to scare the American
public.''
Senator Mark Warner equated ICE officers to a brutal dictator.
Senator Dick Blumenthal accused ICE of spreading ``lawlessness and
recklessness.''
Senator Alex Padilla accused ICE of ``indiscriminate violence.''
Senator Dick Durbin accused ICE's officers of committing
``atrocities.''
Representative Ilhan Omar said ICE is ``state violence,'' called
officers ``vile and beyond cruel,'' and stated ``abolishing ICE is not
enough.''
Representative Pramila Jayapal called ICE officers ``deranged,''
accused them of ``kidnapping,'' said ``resistance'' to ICE is
``inspiring,'' and claimed ICE officers will ``shoot at you and kill
you.''
Representative Eric Swalwell smeared ICE officers as ``masked
thugs,'' called them ``terrorizing bandit[s],'' said it was his
``priority'' to ensure officers are ``no longer faceless,'' compared
them to the KGB, and demanded they ``stay the f-- out of California.''
Representative Jasmine Crockett compared ICE to ``slave patrols'' and
called them thugs.
Representative Delia Ramirez said DHS ``is the single biggest threat
to public safety right now.'' I will repeat: She said DHS ``is the
single biggest threat to public safety right now'' and attacked ICE as
a ``terror force.''
Representative Summer Lee said ICE is ``out of control'' and ``a
police state.''
Representative Ayanna Pressley called ICE ``a rogue, violent agency''
that ``has no business in our communities'' and ``must be abolished,''
and accused ICE of ``terrorizing our communities.''
Representative April McClain Delaney called ICE ``lawless.''
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called ICE ``an anticivilian
[[Page H706]]
force'' and said they ``should not exist.''
Representative Rashida Tlaib said ICE is ``terrorizing our
communities'' and ``turning our country into a fascist police state,''
called it a ``rogue agency,'' and called for it to be abolished.
Representative Julie Johnson excused violence against ICE as people
``channeling that frustration.''
Representative Laura Friedman said ICE officers are ``terrorizing our
friends and neighbors . . . and bringing chaos and violence to our
streets.''
I have dozens more of these. I could continue to fill time on the
House floor by going through the absolute vitriolic attacks on the
people of ICE, literally another 30 in the list that I could read off.
That is what is occurring on a daily basis and is directed at the
people of ICE.
Now, I will give you a tale of two choices. I want you to look at and
make a decision here about who you want to focus on. Over here, we have
victims of dangerous illegal aliens that were in the United States of
America. Over here, we have five Americans who are no longer with us.
We have Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old woman with autism living in
Aberdeen, Maryland, who was savagely strangled to death by an illegal
alien, an MS-13 gang member released by Biden at the border.
{time} 1950
Mr. Speaker, we have Sergeant Brandon Mendoza from Arizona, a 13-year
Mesa Police Department veteran, who was struck by a previously
convicted illegal alien who was drunk when he struck Brandon.
Somewhat probably most infamously, we have Laken Hope Riley. Riley
was a 22-year-old nursing student who attended Augusta University. She
was killed by a Tren de Aragua gang member illegally paroled into the
country under Joe Biden.
We have Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland mother of five. While
going out for a walk, she was raped and murdered by an illegal alien
who snuck across the border under Biden.
We have Jocelyn Nungaray, a woman whose mother I have gotten to know,
a woman whose mother I invited to join us at the inauguration of
President Trump a year ago because of her courage for standing up and
calling out the lawlessness of the people who have been released on the
streets of this country and that resulted in the death of her daughter,
Jocelyn.
Jocelyn was a 12-year-old girl in Houston, who was out for a walk,
when two Venezuelan illegal aliens released under Biden forced her
under a bridge and forced her to take off her clothes before she was
savagely killed in Houston, Texas, my home State.
Do you want to know what? Their lives mattered. Those individuals'
lives mattered. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle, whether
they are in this Chamber or in the other Chamber or in State houses
across this country, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want
to ignore what has happened to these five Americans.
By the way, they are simply the faces of hundreds of thousands of
Americans who have lost their lives violently through narcotics,
through fentanyl, through drunk drivers, through murder, through rape,
and through intimidation.
They represent a large block of Americans suffering at the hands of
people who have been released on our streets purposely for crass
political purposes by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. The
fact is that has left us with a current situation that is even worse.
I will go through a few more. Then I want to bring my colleagues into
this conversation.
Here behind me, after all of the eruption over what has occurred in
Minnesota, where there has been a lot of vitriol directed at ICE in
Minnesota, let us look at these individuals right here. These represent
about eighteen individuals who are the people that ICE has been
arresting in Minnesota. There has been a lot of news over one incident
in Minnesota.
What we have here is a Somalian illegal alien convicted of homicide.
We have a Salvadorian illegal alien convicted of three counts of
homicide with a deportation order since June of 2025.
We have a Mexican illegal convicted of homicide, who was previously
deported in 2002.
We have a Sudanese illegal alien convicted of homicide.
We have a Laotian illegal alien convicted of two counts of homicide
with a deportation order since 2009.
We have an illegal alien from Sierra Leon convicted of two counts of
homicide with a deportation order since 2022.
We have a Mexican illegal alien convicted of homicide with a
deportation order since 2015.
We have a Somalian illegal alien convicted of manslaughter with a
deportation order since 2022.
We have a Sudanese illegal alien convicted of attempt to commit
homicide, weapons possession, and DUI.
We have a Guatemalan illegal alien convicted of negligent homicide
with a vehicle and a DUI with a deportation order since 2022.
We have a Burmese illegal alien convicted of negligent homicide.
We have another Laotian illegal alien convicted of the strong-arm
rape of a 12-year-old girl and kidnapping a child with intent to
sexually assault her with a deportation order since 2024.
We have a Laotian illegal alien convicted of strong-arm rape,
aggravated assault with a weapon, and strangulation with a deportation
order since 2012.
We have a Laotian illegal alien convicted of rape and child fondling
with a deportation order since 2003.
We have a Laotian illegal alien convicted of rape, rape with a
weapon, and sexual assault with a deportation order since 1996.
We have a Mexican illegal alien convicted of sexual assault of a
child and DUI with a deportation order since 2016.
We have a Laotian illegal alien convicted of a strong-arm sodomy of a
boy and a strong-arm sodomy of a girl with a deportation order since
2018.
We have a Laotian illegal alien convicted of sexual assault and
sodomy of a girl under age 13 and procuring a child for prostitution
with a deportation order since 2006.
These are the individuals in Minnesota that ICE--who is being
attacked, criticized, and demonized by my colleagues on the other side
of the aisle--went out, risked their lives, and put their lives on the
line to remove these people from our streets so that our children and
our families might be safe.
No, I am not going to apologize for ICE. No, I am not going to join
in the bandwagon of criticism against ICE. Yes, you review procedures.
Yes, you make sure you do things by the book and that people have due
process.
When we are talking about people who are on our streets, as guests of
our country, and they are committing violence against the people of our
country, let's remember we have a duty to remove them, deport them, and
do it immediately and swiftly.
Let's flip the page real quick. I have a couple more. Let's look
beyond just Minnesota. Remember that when you have dangerous people in
places like Minnesota and lawless States like California and New York,
where you have sanctuary cities, then there are dangerous people
throughout our country, too.
This is just the worst of the worst from yesterday, just yesterday.
In Virginia, a 20-year-old citizen of Guatemala was convicted for
possessing obscene material of a minor and filming child porn.
In my home State of Texas, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico was
convicted for aggravated assault of a family member in Harris County.
In New York, a criminal illegal alien from Jamaica was convicted for
burglary.
A criminal illegal alien from Mexico was convicted for burglary.
A criminal illegal alien from El Salvador was convicted for false
imprisonment and battery.
That was just yesterday. Let's look real quick at the worst of the
worst from 2025 generally, not just yesterday.
In Louisiana, we have a sexual predator, an illegal alien from
Honduras, whose criminal history includes active warrants for 394
counts of pornography involving juveniles and two counts of sexual
abuse of an animal.
In Kansas, a violent criminal illegal alien from Mexico was sentenced
to 20 years in prison for one count of forcible
[[Page H707]]
assault on a Federal officer after he violently punched an ICE officer
and attempted to strangle the officer with his own badge cord.
In Virginia, an Afghan national who entered the United States under
Joe Biden's ``Operation Allies Welcome,'' provided support to the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and his father is a commander of a
militia group in Afghanistan.
In Nebraska, an illegal alien from Honduras and a leader of MS-13,
also known as Fantasma, was wanted in his home country for a quadruple
homicide. After being charged with firearms charges in Honduras, he
allegedly bribed his way out of jail and illegally entered the United
States.
In Houston, the criminal history of an illegal alien from El Salvador
included convictions for sexual assault of a child under 17, multiple
DUIs, child fondling, and illegally reentering the United States
previously. When ICE conducted an enforcement operation in November to
arrest him, he brutally beat an ICE officer with a metal coffee cup. He
caused a severe laceration of the officer's mouth and burns to the
officer's face.
Where are my Democratic colleagues' concern about the ICE officer who
put his life on the line and gets mauled and has a laceration across
his face because he is trying to stop murderers, rapists, and child
pornographers from being on American streets?
In my home State of Texas, Jose Alfredo Uzeta, a criminal illegal
alien from Mexico, operated a dental clinic and performed dental
procedures on patients, despite not having a license for more than 20
years. His clinic was uncovered after one of his former patients
reported he was convicted of a dentistry act violation and indecent
assault.
Another criminal illegal alien and his family members ran a sex
trafficking operation where they would approach women and girls, some
as young as 14, and lure them to the United States under promises of
jobs.
That is all these people right here. That is these people right here.
We have a criminal illegal alien from Vietnam who has been convicted
25 times for crimes including possession of a controlled substance;
second-degree robbery; cruelty toward the elderly; arson property;
taking vehicle without consent; and theft.
{time} 2000
I could go on and on. Those are the people who ICE is trying to get
off of our streets.
Here is the question. This is how I want to open up a conversation
with my good friend from Pennsylvania, Scott Perry--a great American
and somebody I am proud to serve with here in this Congress and proud
to serve with in the House Freedom Caucus.
I will yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania in colloquy about how
he views whose side we are on. That is what I want to know: Whose side
are we on?
Are we on the side of American citizens--Americans, including some
immigrants and immigrant families, like beautiful Jocelyn Nungaray--are
we on their side or Officer Mendoza? Or are we on the side of violent
criminals whom ICE is trying to remove from our streets?
It sure seems like my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are
on their side. They are on the bad guys' side. There really are white
hats and black hats, and you have to choose. They are on the bad guys'
side.
They are not standing with ICE, not standing with law enforcement,
not standing up to defend the law enforcement officers who are putting
their lives on the line to keep these guys off of our streets so that
these Americans aren't killed.
I just wonder if my friend from Pennsylvania has a similar view that
it ought to be easy to choose sides, and if my friend from
Pennsylvania, like me, chooses to side with Border Patrol and ICE and
law enforcement and local law enforcement to protect Americans against
violent thugs and criminals on our streets?
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania for the
purpose of a colloquy.
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I
surely appreciate his passion. It is well-deserved.
I am so heartbroken for our country. In the past, Democrats and
Republicans might not have agreed on maybe the path to get to where we
were going, how we were going to do it, sometimes not even where we
were going. Yet we loved our country, and we understood what our job
was here: to support and represent America.
How can it be that we live in a society--people will say--I am sure
they say it to you, Chip: You are so divided. Why can't you people in
Washington, D.C., get along?
They will say to me: Representative, why can't you work with your
colleagues on the other side of the aisle?
I want to. We look for every opportunity to, and I am just going to
tell you: Look, I am going to call it the way I see it because my eyes
aren't lying.
My friends on the other side of the aisle will tell you, will tell
everybody, will try and get pictures: We stand with law enforcement. We
stand with the police. We support them. Whatever they need, we are
there.
They want to convince you of that because, of course, as law-abiding
American citizens, it is the right thing to do.
Representative Roy, when I was growing up, if there was a criminal
running down the street and an officer was chasing him, somebody would
be a Good Samaritan and stick their leg out or say: He went that way
and help out. But we are literally living in some dystopia where they
say that somehow it is different because it is ICE. It is different
because we can say ICE; Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It is no different. These officers are no different than your local
township police; the State police; Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms; the
U.S. marshals. The good guys, that is who they are.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle literally are defending
these people who came here to murder, rape, and rob. That is who they
are defending. They are literally defending--there is no other way to
cut it.
Rachel Morin died about 30 miles from my house. I don't live close to
the Texas border. This is everywhere. Representative Roy and I both
have daughters, 12 years old. Jocelyn Nungaray was 12 years old and was
heinously murdered by two people allowed to come and stay here
illegally. These are animals who did this.
Mr. ROY. Gang members. Tren de Aragua gang members who took her under
a bridge in Houston, Texas, for the last moments of her life, raping
her and killing her, and her beautiful mother today is standing up and
saying: Enough. Enough.
We should enforce our laws. We should stand with law enforcement
against the thugs and the gang members who are killing Americans,
including Jocelyn, Officer Mendoza, Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and
Kayla Hamilton.
Why do I know their names? It is because I met their families, and I
have talked to them, and they are human beings. They were Americans who
were living their lives and going to college and going to school and
serving their country, and they are dead because people decided, for
political purposes, that they wanted to flood our streets with gang
members from Venezuela and criminals instead of protecting Americans.
Mr. PERRY. You are right, Chip. There are the good guys, and,
unfortunately, there are the bad guys; there just are.
No one would think--I will just try to put it in any context I can.
If I am driving down the highway and I see a police officer who has
pulled somebody over for a traffic infraction, I don't stop and get
involved and say: Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is going on here, Officer? How
do you know--what do you think you are doing?
I don't understand why people who are getting involved in law
enforcement activities don't understand that they are obstructing
justice. Pulling in front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officials who are trying to remove people from our country, who are
here illegally and have had their due process, is not acceptable in any
manner, shape, or form.
There is no one here who will do more to defend your First Amendment
liberties to protest and seek redress from your government.
[[Page H708]]
Mr. ROY. That is right.
Mr. PERRY. But protesting does not mean impeding law enforcement. It
does not mean blocking streets. It does not mean getting on an app on
your phone--that is supported by George Soros--to track Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, law enforcement officers, the law enforcement
police, and track them down and impede their work to keep everybody
else in the community safe.
Do you know what that is, Representative Roy? I have the definition
right here. That is sedition is what that is. That is exactly what it
is. No one wants to say it, but we are seeing it happen.
This is among Americans in our country. These are our neighbors.
These are people right here in every town who somehow think that,
suddenly, it is okay. Now, there unfortunately has been a death.
The death that happened recently is so tragic and unfortunate. Ms.
Good, who lost her life, she could have protested peacefully and sought
redress for the things that she thought were wrong about her government
that should be changed. But she made a decision to inject herself into
law enforcement, impede law enforcement, and make it a dangerous
circumstance where an officer of the law had to make a split-moment
decision about his life and also the lives of other people in his
community.
Madam Speaker, Representative Roy, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials live in your town. They are just like the
township cop that you know who stands by your school in the morning
when your kids are getting off the bus. They are the same people. They
are the same people.
How is it that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can
somehow make book and tell you that you must support violent murderers,
rapists, robbers, gang members, drug traffickers, and human
traffickers? It couldn't be more black and white, and it is so
disappointing.
Mr. ROY. And what we are talking about, again, at the risk of
repetition: A Somali illegal alien convicted of homicide, a Salvadoran
illegal alien convicted of three counts of homicide, a Mexican illegal
alien convicted of homicide, a Sudanese illegal alien convicted of
homicide, a Laotian illegal alien convicted of two counts of homicide,
and I could go through all 18 again.
These are violent individuals. These were all on the streets of
Minnesota. Minnesota ICE was on the streets trying to track down these
people, and the radical left, our colleagues on the other side of the
aisle, want to side with these guys.
Mr. PERRY. I just have to ask you in this colloquy, Representative
Roy from Texas: You say, ``the radical left,'' but I listened to you
rattle off the statements of elected officials.
Mr. ROY. Yes.
Mr. PERRY. Not just Members of Congress, but Members of the United
States Senate.
Mr. ROY. Yes.
Mr. PERRY. Governors of States, including the one that I come from.
Is this the radical left, or are they our Democratic colleagues on the
other side of the aisle?
{time} 2010
Which one of our Democrat colleagues from the other side of the
aisle, whether at the Federal level, the State, or the local level has
come out to denounce the treatment by law enforcement at the hands of
these people that are trying to thwart them and put their lives in
danger for the sake of murderers? Which ones? Do you know of any?
Mr. ROY. I have not heard one, but I have heard--and I read 30 of
them before. How about Boston Mayor Michelle Wu comparing ICE officers
to a Neo-Nazi group.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accusing ICE of being ``secret police''
who are ``terrorizing our communities'' and a lawless, racist force.
New York City's Zohran Mamdani said: ICE enforcement is ``an attack
on us all.''
New Jersey State Senator Britnee Timberlake threatened that ICE
officers `` . . . will find themselves in the same position as those
who carried out the illegal acts in Nazi Germany. . . . ''
Mr. PERRY. It is so outrageous.
Mr. ROY. Minneapolis City Council member Robin Wonsley claimed ICE is
carrying out ``terrorist attacks.'' I could go on and on. They have
been calling on people to go out and attack ICE.
By the way, the man that was engaged in that incident in Minnesota--
and they will review all of that--he was dragged by a previous
protester down the street by a car.
I read a minute ago about the ICE officer who was lacerated across
his face when one of these thugs attacked him with a steel coffee mug.
I talked about another guy that had this cord wrapped around his neck,
and they tried to get him. One of these guys did that to an ICE
officer.
Where is the concern for our law enforcement? My grandfather was the
chief of police of a small town in West Texas back in the 1940s. Where
is the concern for them? My great-great-grandfather was a Texas Ranger.
I was proud to be in the U.S. Attorney's Office, proud to be the first
assistant attorney general, and proud to work with law enforcement.
Does every member of law enforcement always get it right? No. They
are human beings. Do we have ways to go through and punish, rectify,
review, and ensure due process and that rights are protected? Yes.
Should we? Yes.
I want to remind people these are not American citizens. These are
guests in our home who are abusing that invitation--or noninvitation to
the extent that they were legally here--invitation to the extent they
overstayed a visa, invitation to the extent they were abusing a visa
that they were issued. For whatever reason that they are here, they are
violating that trust and engaging in illegal activity and carrying out
the sickest and most heinous crimes.
It cannot be allowed to proceed, and we cannot allow people to side
against our law enforcement that are trying to keep our streets safe so
that we don't lose Rachel Morin, and we don't lose Laken Riley, and we
don't lose Kayla Hamilton, and we don't lose Officer Mendoza, and we
don't lose Jocelyn Nungaray.
Mr. PERRY. Representative Roy, you and I have stood in this Chamber
countless times, for countless hours, having the same discussion over
the same people, the same people in this picture, over and over. There
are countless others that aren't here who died from drunk driving
incidents, died from drug overdose, human trafficked, lives destroyed
forever. If only they got to stay alive, if they even had that
opportunity to stay alive.
There is so much outrage from my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle. Yet, I can't remember, and so I am going to ask you,
Representative Roy from Texas. I can't remember one time my colleagues
on the other side of the aisle came to talk about Laken Riley, Rachel
Morin, Jocelyn Nungaray, the officer, the young lady, not one.
Mr. ROY. Totally objectively--I have been to this floor, I come to
this floor a lot, and I watch the House floor--I do not remember a
single incident, a single time in my 7 years of being in the United
States House of Representatives, not once have I seen it. In fairness,
I might have missed one. Maybe somebody will find it in the Record. I
have been down here countless times when it is an attack on law
enforcement, countless times when it is an attack on President Trump
and this administration.
I think this really matters. I am going to ask you another question
that I think is important. Why are these people here? Why are these
gang and thug members here? Why? Was it President Trump?
Mr. PERRY. No.
Mr. ROY. Did President Trump put them on our streets?
Mr. PERRY. President Trump did not. President Trump is credited with
having the most secure border in history.
Mr. ROY. And, today, we have a flow of basically statistically zero
at our border.
Do you remember when we were in this House Chamber, do you remember
when we were debating legislation last year, and we were debating
bills, and what did they say? They said: Well, we have got to pass
comprehensive immigration reform in order to solve the problem and
secure the border, when it
[[Page H709]]
was Joe Biden as the President and Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary
of Homeland Security. Now it turns out, somehow magically, without that
being signed into law, magically President Trump is able to stop the
flow at the border.
Do you think that is an accident?
Mr. PERRY. No. As I recall, about 10,000 people a week were coming
across the border illegally.
Mr. ROY. Correct. A day. We had as many as 15,000 in a day, okay, and
now we are getting far fewer than 10,000 in a month.
Mr. PERRY. Secretary Mayorkas told us, President Biden told us he
could not solve that problem unless we passed legislation. We needed
to--this Chamber was delinquent. There was nothing that could be done
until we took action. As it has been said, we didn't need to take
action. We needed a different President.
Mr. ROY. And was it not, in fact, true that under President Biden and
under Alejandro Mayorkas' regime at the Department of Homeland
Security, was it not true that these individuals--and you saw me
reading off, by the way, a lot of the years when they had deportation
orders, 2022 or previously. Was it not true that these individuals that
were released into the United States were either released under parole.
In an abuse of law that allows for isolated cases of parole, they
released thousands en bloc.
Mr. PERRY. Tens of thousands.
Mr. ROY. Hundreds of thousands en bloc under parole, an abuse of the
law, an illegal act, abuse of asylum to release people in our country,
and then wide-open borders where people were flooding across the river.
Did that in totality, coupled with people overstaying their visas,
coupled with, frankly, a far more liberal immigration system than we
should have, result in all of these individuals being on the streets?
None of my constituents asked for that.
Mr. PERRY. None of mine.
Mr. ROY. None of my constituents wanted illegal aliens who were
violent and committing crimes on the streets of our country. President
Trump is stopping it. Tom Homan is stopping it. Stephen Miller,
Secretary Noem, all of the great men and women in Border Patrol and
ICE, they are stopping it.
Now, my question is: Why? Why do our colleagues on the other side of
the aisle not want to stop it? Could it be for political reasons? Could
it be that they want non-Americans to be in the United States to try to
transform America and to politically motivate and to politically put
Democrats in power? Could that be?
I don't want to be so cynical as to speculate here on the House
floor, but what other motives would there be to allow dangerous
individuals to pour into our communities and carry out what has been
carried out?
Mr. PERRY. I don't want to speculate either. I will leave that to
people that are listening and people that are thinking through the
situation.
You talked about things that are untrue. I want to let you know that,
of course, I represent 760,000 great people, hardworking, tax-paying,
America-loving individuals in south central Pennsylvania, and I have
gotten some complaints. There is some rhetoric and some claims being
made about Immigration and Customs Enforcement in central Pennsylvania.
I talked to Immigration and Customs Enforcement today and asked them,
because there were claims that enforcement officers were chasing people
down the street, demanding their papers, going door to door looking for
people, staking out certain activities, business activities, or
recreational activities to just see who would come in and ask for their
papers.
Representative Roy, I am proud to report what I knew inherently that
that is all a lie. That is all propaganda meant to scare people and
meant to stop law enforcement from doing its job.
I am so disgusted by the names that our men and women that wear the
uniform, that make a commitment to put their lives in danger to keep
everybody else safe that they are characterized by elected officials
and leaders in our community the way that you have described to me this
evening. It is outrageous. Not only is it outrageous, it is dangerous,
and it is irresponsible. It is leading to not only the division of our
country and our communities, but it is leading to people suffering
injuries and worse. That, Representative Roy, is on them.
{time} 2020
Mr. ROY. The impact of illegal aliens being in our country or,
frankly, those that were wrongly put in our country through parole,
asylum, overstaying their visas, or expansive abuse of legal
immigration, has a consequence, right?
Mr. PERRY. Sure.
Mr. ROY. It has a consequence in the form of lost lives. It has a
consequence in the form of hospitals that are overflowing with
individuals, particularly in Texas, but around the country, jail cells
that are overflowing, and schools that are overflowing. All of that is
a consequence in terms of costs and continued problems.
Just last week, two illegal aliens suspected of being members of the
Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were charged with allegedly weaponizing
their vehicle against a Border Patrol agent in Portland. Both suspects
originally crossed the southern border under Biden and were released
into the interior. The driver wound up with a rap sheet, including DUI,
while the passenger is linked to a shooting and a prostitution ring in
Portland. That is what is happening.
Now, why do I mention that here? Because we just said that President
Trump was able to use current law and current authority to secure the
border and stop the flow. He is currently using current law, current
authority, to remove illegal aliens, including the 1.5 million people
here under an order of removal.
I want to remind everybody of that. We just blow past that little
detail. There are 1.5 million people running around this country who
have an order of removal from a judge. They have gone through all the
processes. They have had all the fricking lawyers that are paid by the
NGOs to try to keep them out of court and keep them in the country, and
1.5 million of them have an order of deportation, of removal.
What do we do about it? This is what I want to say. We, Congress, owe
it to the President and to the great men and women of Border Patrol and
ICE, to our constituents, and to future Americans, who could be
endangered by a future administration with open borders, to codify that
which President Trump has been carrying out to defend our country.
We owe it to all of them to pass a new and updated version of H.R. 2
that we passed in the previous Congress. We stood on this floor as
conservatives and united this Conference behind a singular mission of
passing laws to prevent the abuses that were being carried out by Biden
and Mayorkas.
I promise you--remember, we had a President Trump in 2020. We had a
secure border in January 2021, with low numbers of border crossings and
enforcement of the law. What happened? Biden took over; Mayorkas took
over; and we had an explosion. Then, we had dead Americans and
dangerous, lawless people on our streets.
We, Congress, have a duty to lay it all on the line and to make sure
that, this year, under this Congress, with the Republican majority in
the House and a Republican majority in the Senate, we deliver to the
President's desk the equivalent of H.R. 2 from the previous Congress,
which would codify the changes to parole, codify the changes to asylum,
codify the changes in catch and release, codify the permanent and
continued development of the wall, all the tools necessary to stop the
flow at the border that the current administration has put into action.
We should demand it. We should change the law so that no future Biden
and Mayorkas can endanger the American people.
Does the gentleman from Pennsylvania agree?
Mr. PERRY. Of course, I agree. As you bring it up, I think to myself
how heartbreaking it is knowing--I look at these pictures here of these
wonderful young people with their whole lives ahead of them. If we had
been able to do that during the first administration, these five people
would be alive, likely would be alive, right?
Mr. ROY. Right.
Mr. PERRY. Because we have failed here--not because Chip has failed,
not because I am not willing to vote for it. We have to get it on the
floor. Let's face it, Representative Roy, the great
[[Page H710]]
Representative Roy from Texas, how many votes are you going to count on
for Laken Riley, for Jocelyn Nungaray, for any of these people? How
many votes are you going to count on to keep them alive from our
colleagues on the other side of the aisle?
Mr. ROY. Zero. Now, if we are lucky--if we are lucky--we might get a
handful if pushed to the brink. Remember, we got four or five of them
to vote for, I think, the SAVE Act.
Let's bring that up for a second. Should we not--in addition to
guaranteeing that we secure the border and codify the great work of
President Trump to prevent the death and destruction of the American
people, should we not also guarantee the integrity of our elections by
passing yet again the SAVE Act, pushing our Senate colleagues to pass
the SAVE Act, and send it to the President's desk, which would simply
guarantee that only American citizens vote in American elections?
It is that simple. Shouldn't be controversial. Shouldn't be a really
difficult concept. We have passed it in the House. The Senate is
blocking it. The question is whether Republicans have the nerve to put
it on must-pass legislation, to fight for it, to break the filibuster
in the Senate, to move the bill and get it to the President's desk,
along with some other good changes, like voter ID and other things we
should do.
Does the gentleman agree that we should, in addition to codifying
H.R. 2, secure American elections with these requirements under the
SAVE Act to save America, as President Trump rightly said, as President
Trump told us in our Conference meeting a week and a half ago, to get
it to his desk? Do you agree?
Mr. PERRY. Of course. We passed it in the House, but that is not
enough. That doesn't change anything. We can pass everything we want to
in the House, with or without our friends on the other side of the
aisle, but if we can't get a vote and passage in the Senate, it doesn't
get to the President's desk.
I would just say this: What I think would be interesting to see, when
we talk about--look, quite honestly, it is a travesty to me that we
should have to pass such a bill that only American citizens vote in
American elections. That should be obvious.
You don't invite some person from some other State or some other town
into your home to ask them about your important family decisions. Yet,
somehow in America, my friends on the other side of the aisle, my
colleagues over there, think that that is what we should do.
They should put a vote up in the Senate to show the American people
who stands with them and who stands with letting those people in our
country illegally, killing, raping, robbing, and giving them the vote.
If they can't get the vote, then they need to find a way to break the
filibuster and make sure that we stand up for Americans.
Madam Speaker, to my friend from Texas, we weren't elected by people
from other countries. We weren't elected by Tren de Aragua or the
Cartel of the Suns. We were elected by the American citizens. That is
who we are here to represent.
If somebody wants to represent them, well, God bless them, but they
should let the American people know by their votes and go out and decry
it to everybody. Amazingly, in some cases, some of our colleagues
actually are.
Mr. ROY. I have one final question, one final point. In addition to
protecting Americans with H.R. 2 to codify the President's actions, in
addition to ensuring that American elections are secure and that you
can trust the integrity of elections by passing the SAVE Act, voter ID,
and what is necessary to guarantee the sanctity of our elections,
should we not also consider something like the PAUSE Act to pause and
take a break on immigration when, in fact, we legally have 1.1 million
green cards, 1 million guest workers, and north of 1 million foreign
students each year?
We have more immigrants than every other country in the world
combined. We have a foreign-born population of 51.9 million, almost 16
percent, a record high. This is the important part. We have social
welfare and social safety nets that are being used by noncitizens that
are blowing out the rolls and driving up the cost of all of these
goods.
My point here is that we have had massive amounts of immigration over
our history. All of us love the actual melting pot that America
represents, but here is the key issue: You actually have to be willing
to assimilate for it to be a melting pot. It is not a melting pot if
you are coming here and waving a Palestinian flag or waving the flag of
Honduras or Guatemala instead of saying I am coming here to be
American, to embrace Western civilization, and to embrace the greatest
country the world has ever known that has bled around the world not for
conquest but to liberate people, that has died for people around the
globe to make it a safer and secure place.
People want to come here to be a part of that, God bless them, but
the people who come here who want to change it, who want to turn it
into an Islamic state, who want to undermine it and who want advance
sharia law, who want to bring their flags of their country here instead
of adopting and becoming an American--shouldn't we not take a total
review of our immigration system, from top to bottom, in addition to
codifying security of our border and ensuring the integrity of our
election, that only citizens vote and that only citizens are counted
for purposes of representation and how we apportion our Members of
Congress?
{time} 2030
All of these things that I am talking about are common sense to
ensure a simple principle that American citizens are able to run this
country.
Mr. PERRY. It is their country. Of course, the United States of
America is the most generous country ever in history. Certainly with
immigration it is more generous than every other nation and more
generous than all nations combined.
However, what no one ever envisioned was tens of thousands, daily or
weekly, in the amount of tens of millions of people pouring into our
country illegally with no interest in being American but being in
America.
Now what do we do about it?
We have a President who has vowed to solve that and who has vowed to
fix that. He got elected on that promise, and now my colleagues on the
other side of the aisle reject following the law if it means following
the law.
So I think that it is the height of disrespect, quite honestly, for
people to come to our country illegally, tell us that we are awful
people, try and change our country into the country they came from,
have us pay for it, and then disrespect us while they are doing it by
killing our citizens and while sending our tax dollars to the terrorist
organizations in the country that they left.
It is unacceptable at any and every single level.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for
joining me tonight. I appreciate his commentary, I appreciate his
leadership, and I appreciate his service in the United States military.
I appreciate his service to his constituents, and I appreciate his
great family.
It is a sacrifice for all of us. It is tough when you have young
kids, Madam Speaker. Our kids are about the same age. We leave them at
home, and we come here, but we are doing it because we want to save
this country for our kids and our grandkids. That is why I am in public
service.
I know when I had a diagnosis of cancer about 14 years ago, Hodgkin's
lymphoma, I didn't know if I would be around days or weeks, and 14
years later, I am sure some of my colleagues, maybe they are happy to
see me, maybe they are not.
I know that when I leave my kids, I know God gave me some more breath
and some more time on this planet to try to make sure that we save
this, the last great hope for mankind as President Reagan called it.
Madam Speaker, I will close with this, and I will turn it over, so my
friend from North Carolina can take the floor.
We are here to represent the American people. The American people did
not send us here as Representatives to give away our country. They did
not send us here as Representatives to allow our friends on the other
side of the aisle to empower dangerous tax cuts, thugs, gang members,
and people who are killing Americans. They did not send us here for
that.
[[Page H711]]
Every time we vote on appropriations bills and every time we are
putting forward legislation, we ought to be thinking about these
Americans who lost their lives at the hands of these non-Americans. We
ought to be thankful we have a President who recognizes that these non-
Americans needn't be on our streets, that we should be siding with ICE
and Border Patrol, and that we should be defending the men and women in
our law enforcement across the country so we can protect these
Americans. So that we can choose to side with the American citizens,
not the non-Americans who are dangerous, and we can side with law
enforcement to protect these.
We can act. This is my message to my Republican colleagues: We have a
choice this year. We can retreat and get into the mode of elections. Or
we can lead, we can work, and we can roll our sleeves up and right now
codify the rules, the laws, and the actions of the President to secure
our border and ensure that no future President can abuse them.
We can do that right now. We can pass H.R. 2. We can send it to the
Senate. We can force the Senate to act if we just have the will to do
it.
We can send the SAVE Act again. We can add voter ID. We can send it
to the Senate. We can dare them to break the filibuster by forcing a
talking filibuster instead of the fake filibuster of a forced 60-vote
threshold.
Make them work. Make 51 Senators sit on the floor and have a quorum.
Make them speak. Make them do their job so that we can defend our
country and defend our people. Pass the SAVE Act, pass voter ID, and
secure American elections. Secure our border permanently instead of
just having it depend on the current President. Reform our immigration
system. Pause it. We have done it before. Pause it, review it, and stop
people from overstaying their visas. Fix the system.
Make sure we are not importing people who are adherent to sharia law
and want to undermine Western civilization and create mayhem and be
against our way of life.
Choose the path of leadership. Come here as a Congress and bind
together. Don't sit around complaining about having a two- or three- or
four-seat majority.
Lead, act, and go.
That is why we are here. That is why that flag exists. Madam Speaker,
put your trust in God, and put the armor of God around you. Stand up
and lead for this country.
If we do it, then the American people will send us back here in a
bigger majority.
If we do it, then President Trump will be able to accomplish even
more in the next 2 years than in these 2 years.
If we act now, then we can actually save this country.
If we act now, then we can secure the border.
If we act now, then we can secure our elections.
If we act now, then we can guarantee an immigration system that no
longer imports people into our country who want to undermine it.
We can provide healthcare freedom, and we can balance the budget if
we act and we lead. Right now, let's secure our country. We can do it
this year. That is our calling.
We are not here to get re-elected. We are here to deliver for the
American people.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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