Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005

BORDER PROTECTION, ANTITERRORISM, AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CONTROL ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - December 15, 2005)

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Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of this legislation, the Border Protection Antiterterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act.

I support this bill for several reasons, but I think one of the things that must be noted is it provides the Federal Government with needed authority to secure the borders.

It also closes the loopholes in current law that illegal immigrants and their facilitators exploit to enter and remain in the United States illegally. It is estimated that more than 11 million people, as it has been brought out here today, enter the U.S. illegally. That number includes those who have stayed over their visa and those who have entered this country illegally in the first place.

Of course, America is a very charitable Nation. We welcome those with open arms who wish to live here, who wish to work here, raise a family here and eventually become naturalized citizens. That is why we have a legal process to do so.

Since September 11, 2001, we as a Nation have had to reevaluate our willingness to have among us so many noncitizens that are here illegally. For the sake of our national security, for the sake of government programs that many of our colleagues on this side also cherish, we must pass a bill to begin to perform our duties to secure our borders.

This bill also facilitates cooperation between border sheriffs and Federal law enforcement by authorizing reimbursements to local sheriffs, along the border, for the cost of enforcing immigration laws and detaining illegal immigrants until transferred to Federal custody. This has been a growing problem, and the clarification provided in this bill and the financial resources are important.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act. I support this bill because it provides the Federal Government with needed authority to secure our borders. It also closes loopholes in current law that illegal immigrants and their facilitators exploit to enter and remain in the U.S. illegally. It's estimated that there are more than 11 million people in the U.S. here illegally. That number includes those who have overstayed their visas and those who have entered the country illegally.

America is a charitable nation; welcoming those who wish to live, work, raise a family and eventually become naturalized citizens. This is why we have a legal process to do so. Since September 11, 2001 we, as a nation, have had to re-evaluate our willingness to have among us so many non-citizens that are here illegally. For the sake of our national security, and for the sake of the government programs that many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cherish, we must pass this bill and begin to perform our duty to secure our borders.

Since the changes will increase the number of illegal aliens in Federal custody, this bill includes provisions to increase the number of beds available to house these illegal aliens. The Department of Homeland Security will expand capacity to house those awaiting court hearings or removal.

I want to thank the Chairman for yielding time and I'll close by asking all of my colleagues to support this bill; it is long overdue and a vital first step towards improving border security.

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