Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CROCKETT. Mr. Chair, as legislators, it is our job to make sure we are not moving forward with drafting legislation that is, on its face, flawed. If we want to legislate and address immigration, let's mean what we say and do so in an effective manner.

This bill does not live up to that standard. The inclusion of the term ``actively assisting'' is ripe for judicial scrutiny and will, undoubtedly, result in court challenges wasting taxpayer dollars and government resources.

Nonetheless, fiscal issues caused by poor legislative drafting are the least of my concerns with this bill. This language is so deeply concerning because we already have been witnessing how aggressive policing tactics and unconstitutional racial profiling directed by rogue Governors like Governor Greg Abbott have led to severe harm to-- and has undermined--our legal system all in the name of actively assisting the U.S. Border Patrol.

Take, for instance, this last Christmas where U.S. citizens--a husband, wife, their 13-year-old daughter, and their grandmother-- living in El Paso were wrongfully targeted by Texas officers in unmarked vehicles after they were coming back from visiting relatives just across the border in Mexico. The officers ran the family off the road, and at least four Texas Department of Public Safety officers wearing street clothes and tactical vests quickly surrounded their car and began pointing semiautomatic rifles at them.

Because of the accident, the grandmother had to receive x-rays and still has lingering back pain. The daughter was likely traumatized from having weapons of war pointed at her and her family.

No one, including me, doubts more must be done to address the problems we are seeing at the border, but this type of unlawful harassment of citizens is not it.

To be clear, my amendment in no way prevents Federal, State, or local officers from working with Border Patrol agents, nor does it say that Federal, State, and local officers do not have a role to play here. In fact, several border counties, including counties in Texas, already have U.S. Customs and Border Protection memoranda of understanding with State and local officials to work with immigration enforcement.

Nothing in my amendment would prevent these written agreements that lay out clear chains of command and clear codes of conduct.

What my amendment does do is prevent State and local law enforcement from acting lawlessly at the misguided direction of a Governor who refuses to work with men and women of the United States Border Patrol because he thinks he is above the law.

If my Republican colleagues reject this amendment and keep the current language, then they are supporting actions that have historically lacked due diligence to prevent harm and encourage lawlessness that leads to more dangerous instances like the one that occurred at Christmas.

If the House rejects this amendment, then it will give Governor Abbott a tool to carry out his unconstitutional border policies without Federal oversight and coordination.

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Ms. CROCKETT. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman has opposition and has an offer to define ``actively assisting,'' then that would be great. However, the reality is that what is going to happen is what we have seen happen in the State of Texas where we have a Governor who has murders on his hands, as far as I am concerned, because we have had active deaths at the hands of mishandling this.

If this is going to be a Federal issue, then the Federal Government needs to be the one that is absolutely going to be over Federal law. So they can have memorandums of understanding. If that means that every single county at the border needs to go ahead and enter into a memorandum of understanding, then they need to.

Nonetheless, this is a Federal issue, it is not a State issue, and this protects federalism and makes sure that it will be under the hands of the Federal Government with this Federal law instead of State Government.

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Ms. CROCKETT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. CROCKETT. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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