[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3245-3246]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       IMMIGRANTS ALSO SAVE LIVES

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, yesterday President Trump launched a rather 
ridiculous effort called the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement 
Office, or VOICE. They are going to be focusing on talking about people 
who were victimized by people who are here illegally.
  First of all, the statistics aren't with him. It turns out that 
people who are undocumented are among the least likely groups to commit 
illegal acts, and studies show that they are one-fifth to one-half less 
likely to commit a crime.

[[Page 3246]]

  So I want to start an effort that is similar. I am going to start a 
task force called SAINT, Saved by American Immigrants National 
Taskforce, to talk about Americans whose lives were saved by people who 
are here undocumented--people like Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, who 
became a brain surgeon, saving countless lives; people like Antonio 
Diaz Chacon, who chased down a child abductor and saved a 6-year-old 
girl from a horrific fate, even though he is undocumented; and another 
undocumented immigrant named Jesus Manuel Cordova, who rescued a 9-
year-old boy in the Arizona desert.
  These are the kinds of lifesaving efforts from our undocumented 
immigrants where they save American lives. I bet our efforts at SAINT 
talking about saving American lives will match, life for life, all of 
the things that President Trump tries to drum up through his VOICE 
effort.
  Of course there are good and bad people. Of course there are good and 
bad hombres. Let's celebrate the good with the bad. I look forward to 
sharing their stories with my colleagues.

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