Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Chairman, President Biden's open border policies, notably the mass parole of unvetted migrants, have essentially turned every State into a border State and have made every community less safe.

In good faith, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew), my good friend, has proposed an effective bill that mandates the swift identification, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants who commit violent acts against law enforcement. This legislation serves as a necessary corrective to the current administration's perilously lax border security.

Mr. Chairman, I am proposing an amendment to Congressman Van Drew's bill that would further strengthen our national security framework. This amendment will compel the Secretary of Homeland Security to systematically collect and report to Congress data on illegal migrants detained for charges or convictions of assaulting law enforcement officers.

This measure will prevent the avoidance of accountability by ensuring that Secretary Mayorkas and other officials can no longer disregard this critical data. Furthermore, it eliminates the need to depend solely on media reports to understand the full scope of violent crime linked to current border policies.

Consider, Mr. Chairman, a recent incident in Times Square, widely seen on social media, where illegal migrants violently attacked NYPD officers. Despite their arrest, these individuals were quickly released, and one was soon re-arrested for another crime. Yet, they were not deported. Instead, they received plea deals from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

This pattern, where the safety of our law enforcement officers is sidelined, is becoming distressingly common. In this fiscal year alone, Mr. Chairman, Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 18,000 illegal migrants with criminal backgrounds, including 248 known gang members, 35 of whom were affiliated with MS-13.

Mr. Chair, supporting this amendment is the least we can do to bolster the safety of those who risk their lives for us every day. It is about ensuring that our approach to public safety is proactive and grounded in reality, not just wishful thinking.

As we mark National Police Week, I call on my colleagues to stand with our law enforcement officers by backing this amendment and the crucial bill introduced by Mr. Van Drew. Let us commit to a policy that upholds the rule of law and ensures the safety of every American community. We should not put our heads in the sand and think that ``see no evil, hear no evil'' is an effective policy to keep our heroes safe.

During National Police Week especially, I urge all of my colleagues to support law enforcement by supporting my amendment to Congressman Van Drew's vital underlying bill.

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Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Chairman, I would welcome another amendment that would be more specific to Congress' endeavor to ensure that we have the clarity of the size and scope of this issue. My amendment is something along that path, and if the gentlewoman wants more, the gentlewoman understands that she can submit her own amendment on that issue.

Nevertheless, on this amendment, Mr. Chairman, I urge all of my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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