[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9943]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IMMIGRATION AND SANCTUARY CITIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Arrington) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, as a Representative of the great State of 
Texas, I want to first acknowledge and preface my remarks with the fact 
that most people that are entering these United States illegally are 
doing so because they want a better life for their families. That said, 
it doesn't make it right. As has been said, and I have said it before, 
we are a nation of immigrants for sure, all of us, but we are also a 
nation of laws.
  When the Federal Government abdicates its responsibility to secure 
our border and enforce our immigration laws, we not only fail in our 
sacred duty to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, but we put 
American lives at risk. 121, that is the number of lives that have been 
lost from 2010 to 2014, lives that could have been saved if we had the 
political courage to enforce our immigration laws regarding criminal 
aliens.
  Here is something even more outrageous. Of the over 36,000 criminal 
aliens released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody over 
the course of a year, 1,000 of them were reconvicted of another crime.
  These avoidable, tragic deaths from violent crimes continue to happen 
across the country, and many of the criminal aliens who have committed 
them have found refuge in our Nation's sanctuary cities. These are 
lawless cities, let's be clear, cities whose actions undermine the 
basic American tenet that we are a nation of laws, not of men.
  Fortunately, we have the opportunity to stop this madness and do the 
job the American people expect their government to do, their first job, 
and that is to keep Americans safe.
  Passing the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act would impose significant 
penalties on States and cities that refuse to follow Federal 
immigration laws and cooperate with authorities. Additionally, it would 
allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to prohibit law-breaking 
immigrants in DHS custody from being transferred to sanctuary cities.
  The No Sanctuary for Criminals Act only addresses one part of the 
problem in this area, a problem that we all know will require further 
reform; but, nonetheless, this is a good, commonsense law, and it will 
move our country in the right direction towards safer, stronger 
communities.
  In addition to supporting the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, I have 
cosponsored the Davis-Oliver Act, and I urge all my colleagues to do 
the same. In addition to holding these cities accountable for harboring 
criminal aliens, we need to ensure that our State and local law 
enforcement officials have the authority to actually do their job, and 
that is enforce all of our Nation's laws.
  Together, I believe the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act and the Davis-
Oliver Act will have a major impact on stopping illegal immigration and 
deterring lawlessness at the hands of criminal aliens who have 
repeatedly proven that they will break our laws, harm our citizens, and 
disrespect this great Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, let's empower the President and local law enforcement 
agencies to do their job. Let's honor the Constitution and respect the 
rule of law. Mr. Speaker, let's simply put America first.

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