Providing for Consideration of H.R. Presidential Election Reform Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEUSER. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Pennsylvania for his leadership and for his support of this commonsense legislation.

Madam Speaker, I do rise to oppose the previous question so that we may immediately consider my bill, H.R. 6592, the Immigration Transparency and Transit Notification Act, which would provide much- needed transparency for the secret immigration flights sent by the Biden administration to my hometown and to communities across, primarily, rural America.

Thanks to their open border policies, the Biden administration has been sending hundreds of flights full of illegal immigrants into American communities, often in the dead of night. Over the last year- and-a-half, these flights have been landing in towns across America, placing thousands of illegal immigrants into communities with no prior notice, yet no one has flinched, no mainstream media attention, no outrage from the podium at the White House or Democrats in this House.

Now that Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Martha's Vineyard have received flights, now it has become a seemingly national crisis.

Remember, the Biden administration was flying thousands of these illegals secretly to middle America for well over a year now, and no one has batted an eye.

Sanctuary cities and States offering benefits to illegal immigrants and the open border rhetoric from the Biden administration continue to induce illegal immigration and likely violates Title 8 of the U.S. Code.

Republicans have endlessly called on the Biden administration and my colleagues in this House, Democrat colleagues, to secure our border and ultimately put an end to this practice of airdropping illegal immigrants into American communities. This should not be a partisan issue.

I became aware of these flights in my area only from local whistleblowers at our local airport. I engaged in good faith with DHS and HHS and was met with nothing but nontruths and empty promises. We were first told no illegals were being flown into Pennsylvania. This, of course, turned out to be completely untrue. I saw it with my own eyes.

I was also told that it was just a coincidence these flights were coming in at 2 o'clock in the morning into remote rural airports. One flight was around midnight on Christmas night.

After these meetings, I was told that I would receive notification of future flights. No such notifications were ever received, yet the flights continued.

At this point, I introduced this responsible piece of legislation to bring transparency, accountability, and decency, and local help and support to the situation.

The current situation at our border is not humane. Millions of illegals are enduring a treacherous journey, as we all know, facing perilous conditions, assault, rape, and death, all because the Biden administration's words and actions, and that of the cartels certainly, that we allow to exist, have led them to believe that they can come.

This is not humane, Madam Speaker. Nothing about the Biden administration's border policy is. When such illegals arrive on ghost flights, as mentioned, in these communities, no one on the ground has any idea where they are coming from or where they are going.

In addition to all of this, we have deadly drugs like fentanyl pouring across the border, killing over 100,000 Americans just in the past year.

The cartels are getting rich as migrants are giving away their life savings under the pretense set out by the Biden administration that they are welcomed here. The illegals are not to blame for making this journey. It is the cartels and the Biden administration's encouraging them who are to blame. The false message is out: Show up to our border and all will be fine.

As a result, our border is overrun and border communities and others across the country--yes, even now Martha's Vineyard--are now feeling the effects of this. It needs to stop.

Of course, if our southern border is secured, there would be no need for such ghost flights to take place. Effective border policy should be fully implemented. Catch and release must end. Our border must be secured.

Until these policies change and our border is secured, I offer this legislation to bring accountability and transparency to these flights and ensure American communities are properly informed, ensure that the sponsor is legitimate and verified and safe, that we are not aiding and abetting human trafficking, and we give the State's Governor the authority to approve flights and determine if they have the means to provide the support necessary.

The schools should also be notified, Madam Speaker. How is it when 10 young children here illegally, who do not speak English, show up at a school district on a Monday morning, without notification? It is wrong. It is a terrible shame that it took flights to liberal enclaves like New York, Chicago, D.C., and Martha's Vineyard for this to be taken seriously and receive the attention that it finally deserves.

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Mr. MEUSER. Madam Speaker, our border must be secured. I think I am making my point.

Until then, this bill will bring order and transparency to this practice. I hope my Democrat colleagues are truly outraged by some of these practices, as I have outlined. I urge them to join me in defeating the previous question in support of my bill. In doing so, we will address the reality that so many communities across America have been facing for nearly 2 years. Let's act responsibly.

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