Radical Open Borders Policies That Are Dangerous to Our Citizens

Floor Speech

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Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose a truly radical piece of legislation that was recently introduced in this Chamber.

The New Way Forward Act, as it is called, introduced with the support of more than three dozen Democratic cosponsors, decriminalizes illegal immigration, makes it nearly impossible for border authorities to detain and deport immigrants with criminal convictions, and forces taxpayers to foot the bill to bring back previously deported criminal illegal immigrants.

Mr. Speaker, if this bill were to become law, it would enable illegal immigrants who have committed crimes abroad to be returned to the U.S., and it would allow them to gain a pathway to citizenship.

The bill eliminates the provision in current law that forbids an immigrant from entering the United States if they have committed drug crimes or any crimes involving moral turpitude. Examples of crimes involving moral turpitude include child molestation, kidnapping, rape, murder, and more. It is unthinkable that we would allow anyone who has committed those crimes to freely enter our country.

To add to the egregiousness of this legislation, it calls on the Department of Homeland Security to pay for the return of previously deported illegal immigrants. Under the bill, any immigrant deported since April 1996 would be allowed to return to the U.S. as long as they met a stunningly lax set of criteria. It is ridiculous to require American taxpayers to foot the bill to bring previously deported individuals back onto U.S. soil.

The bill would make it more difficult for ICE to detain an immigrant with a criminal record. Agents would be forced to prove that a suspect poses a danger or a flight risk without using the immigrant's past criminal history as a sole factor.

One of the Democratic cosponsors on this bill even proclaimed that it would end deportation for people who had contact with the criminal legal system. I would say it is common sense that a serious criminal conviction should lead to deportation.

Worse yet, this prevents ICE from deporting immigrants who have been convicted of crimes with an average sentence of less than 5 years. This bill would allow an alien who committed crimes like auto theft, weapons crimes, identity theft, and fraud to remain in the country.

Like many Americans, I want people to enter our country through the legal process--we want them here--and then to stay on the right side of the law. Legal immigration is what makes our country great. But we cannot pass bills, like this one, that incentivize more people to come here illegally or imposes no penalty on those who commit serious crimes.

I think most Americans would agree that we should welcome those who come to our land in a legal, merit-based way and that dangerous, illegal immigrants should not be allowed to come into our country or stay in our country.

Unfortunately, this bill makes a mockery of that principle and replaces it with a set of radical, open-border policies that are dangerous to our citizens and our communities. It is for that reason that it should be soundly defeated.

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