Protect Our Law Enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASAR. Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to House Republicans' H.R. 2494, which is not about defending police officers, it is about deporting people. This does nothing to defend against assault. This is about discriminating against immigrants. Let me tell you why.

Under Texas law, an unwanted touch can be considered assault. My Republican colleague, Congressman Troy Nehls, a former law enforcement officer himself, pointed out during the bill markup that he had ``mixed emotions'' on that potentially leading to deportation.

This is not theoretical. Just this month we saw this in Texas firsthand. Evan, an Austin resident, was at our State legislature peacefully opposing a bill there. As the bill was being taken up, the speaker of the house ordered the gallery to be cleared.

Hats aren't allowed in the Chamber. As Evan was exiting the gallery, he was carrying his baseball cap in his left hand. An officer grabbed his arm and Evan swung around, surprised. The brim of his basketball cap bumped the officer. Evan was handcuffed and charged with assault by contact, a criminal charge. If Evan wasn't a citizen or had admitted fault, he would be deported under this proposed bill today.

Here is another example from 2019. My constituent, Tania, was in mental health crisis. Her friends, family, and neighbors called 911 for help. The police and an ambulance arrived. The police said they needed to handcuff her to take her to the hospital. She was terrified. She was scared. She kicked as she was being handcuffed.

The police body camera video has on the recording the officers saying: Thank you.

That is now assault on a police officer, a felony charge for kicking. Rather than being taken to the hospital, Tania was booked into the jail. We feared that she would be deported. Because there was time for due process, her lawyers intervened. Members of Congress, such as Congressman Lloyd Doggett, intervened, and Tania was able to get out rather than be deported back to a country that she was brought from as a young child.

If this law today had been in place, Tania instead could have been automatically deported. This law undermines due process and radically expands the ability to deport families from the U.S. who have never been charged or convicted of a crime.

This bill would separate families and send people potentially to a country that they have never known, all for the brush of a hat or for the pinch of an arm.

Mr. Chair, I am sick and tired of preposterous bills being heard in this Chamber. I am sick and tired of hearing the Republicans are for due process, freedom, or individual liberty, when we see bills like this that do nothing to reform our immigration system. This does nothing to increase public safety, and only leaves as collateral damage the freedom, due process, and individual liberties of those who are struggling to make this country a better home for themselves and their families.

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