Biden-Harris Administration Failures At the Southern Border
Floor Speech
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Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure now to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), the co-chair of the Border Security Caucus.
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Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. I appreciate serving with him on the Border Security Caucus. He does a great job there, and I appreciate it so much.
In Colorado, the Tren de Aragua has been overrunning Colorado communities. Border officials have referred to Tren de Aragua as MS-13 on steroids. These criminals are the worst that the world has to offer, and the Biden-Harris regime has allowed them to make themselves at home in Colorado communities.
Larry Medina was arrested by Aurora police in connection with a felony menacing at Whispering Pines Condominiums. The victim reported to police Medina pointed a firearm and threatened to kill him.
Jhonardy Pacheco-Chirinos was arrested on a first-degree assault warrant out of Adams District Court. The warrant stemmed from an assault in November 2023 at an apartment complex.
Jhonnarty DeJesus Pacheco-Chirinos was arrested in connection with a nonfatal shooting the day before at Fitzsimons Place apartments.
Luis Miguel Calzadilla-Rojas was arrested in connection with a nonfatal shooting in front of a probation officer.
Yoendry Vilchez Medina-Jose was arrested on a warrant stemming from an assault at Whispering Pines Condos.
Juan Carlos Mejia-Espana was arrested following a domestic dispute, also at Whispering Pines Condominiums. He had a weapon.
Carlos Aranguren-Mayora had numerous encounters with Aurora police officers and law enforcement agencies throughout the metro area. He faces a total of 38 charges, five active court cases.
Roiberth Daniel Mora-Marquez was arrested in connection with an April 4 dispute and assault over unpaid rent money. He is also a suspect in a nonfatal shooting.
Jose Miguel Reyes-Perez was arrested for aggravated assault, menacing, and motor vehicle theft.
This is what is going on in Colorado. I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lopez) to discuss this further.
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Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Lopez for his comments.
On August 4, 2024, Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended Guatemalan national Jorge Luis Castro-Alvarado, who was charged with raping a Massachusetts resident. Castro illegally entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official. He was convicted of assault and battery on a family or household member. The court sentenced Castro to 18 months in prison and suspended all but 6 months of the prison sentence.
In early 2023, Juan Carlos Garcia Rodriguez became one of the up to 140,000 unaccompanied children with whom HHS has lost contact. Just months after HHS lost contact with Garcia Rodriguez, he ran away from his sponsor and assaulted and murdered 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez in Pasadena, Texas. Garcia Rodriguez was illegally smuggled to the U.S. border through Louisiana in 2023 by a guide paid for by his parents. Rodriguez was then processed as a UAC and later transferred to custody of the Department of Health. Despite this, Rodriguez was placed with an unrelated adult sponsor who was also an illegal alien.
I now yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Van Duyne), who knows about the ravages of illegal migration.
Ms. VAN DUYNE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today to address the ongoing and deadly border disaster that every week continues to take the lives and livelihoods of American citizens all over our country.
Border czar Kamala Harris has failed in her assigned role to protect our country and to secure our borders. I submit that Harris never intended to have secure borders, and her primary focus has been to get rid of every successful border control measure that we had in place during President Trump's administration. From the beginning, Harris' goal was to flood our Nation with a tsunami of illegal immigrants so they could overwhelm our States and cities with populations that Harris ultimately hopes to turn into U.S. citizens whom she believes will create permanent Democrat control of the White House and Congress.
Due to the deliberate actions of the Biden-Harris administration, millions of illegal immigrants have been trafficked either by deadly Mexican cartels or by the illegal immigrant airlines and other transportation assistance run by this administration. This has led to horrific crimes being committed throughout America as daughters, sisters, and mothers are brutally attacked, raped, and murdered.
At the same time, Biden and Harris have lost over 320,000 illegal immigrant children. They are likely enslaved in sex trafficking or forced labor. It is not an exaggeration to say that Kamala Harris has brought about a massive new era of slavery that our country has never seen. She has inflicted a humanitarian disaster on our Nation. American citizens are losing their lives by the hundreds of thousands because of this disaster.
Every week, we learn about new atrocities that are committed by this administration against the American people. Just yesterday, a former Border Patrol sector chief testified how the Biden-Harris administration directed our Border Patrol to hide information from the American people about the explosion of illegal immigrants with possible ties to terrorism who are entering our country. This former border chief further testified that he was forced to release hundreds of illegal immigrants every day into communities that were not prepared to handle such an influx.
The actions of Biden and Harris have been lawless, dangerous, and are purposefully designed to destabilize our Nation. Truly, there has been no more destructive administration in my lifetime, and they should be condemned for these horrific acts against the American people.
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Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments.
Enforcement Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully present 28-year-old Salvadoran national charged with numerous sex crimes against a child on Nantucket island. Officers from ERO Boston arrested Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo September 10 in Nantucket. Aldana had unlawfully entered the U.S. on an unknown date, at an unknown location without having been inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official. Nantucket authorities arraigned Aldana on July 26 in Nantucket District Court for one count of rape of a child with a 10- year age difference and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
Deportation officers from Enforcement Removal Operations Atlanta arrested an Ecuadorian fugitive listed as one of the country's 100 most wanted criminals. Officers apprehended Cesar Condor Vaca during a targeted operation in Greenville, South Carolina, on January 30. The assistant attache in Ecuador notified ERO Atlanta that Condor Vaca was wanted by Ecuadorian authorities for femicide. An ERO assessment revealed Condor Vaca legally entered the U.S. on March 15, 2021, and failed to depart as required. ERO Atlanta officers served him with a notice to appear. A notice to appear. He will remain in U.S. ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
Madam Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman), who knows the ravages of illegal migration in South Carolina.
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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the gentleman from South Carolina.
Ellen Gutierrez Saez, Johan Salvo Alacon, and Manuel Eduardo Fuentes Gomez, three Chilean citizens living illegally in the United States, were arrested and believed to be part of a South American criminal gang operating in the United States whose members commit robberies, fraud, and traffic stolen property.
That group is believed to be responsible for at least 111 robbery incidents since February 2023.
Nathan Kharim Melendez is wanted in Mexico for the criminal charge of causing multiple injuries with a vehicle and abandoning the scene, fleeing the scene. He has been wanted by Mexican authorities since March of this year when he was named as the suspected driver of a car that ran over a 30-year-old woman, her 5-year-old daughter, and 2-year- old nephew. He was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, in June of this year.
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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Crane's recounting of what is going on across our border.
ERO Boston removed Felipe Augusto De Oliveira, a 23-year-old Brazilian fugitive, from the United States who was wanted by authorities in his home country for attempted homicide.
U.S. Border Patrol apprehended De Oliveira on March 28, 2023, after he unlawfully entered the United States near Lukeville, Arizona. He was subsequently released on his own recognizance by a Department of Justice immigration judge, and I am sure we are looking for him still.
Enforcement and Removal Operations in Miami, in partnership with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, arrested Giovanni Radu, a 22-year- old citizen of Italy, who entered the United States as a nonimmigrant and violated the terms of his admission. He collected a total of $80,000 in the past year using a fake nonprofit.
He is facing State charges, including organized scheme to defraud, failure to register as a charitable organization, and a whole host of these things, as well as carrying a concealed weapon during a felony and battery on a law enforcement officer.
One who knows well, because she has some roots in Arizona as well as Florida, what is going on in the ravages of crime that is a result of this wide-open border is my friend, the gentlewoman from Florida.
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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman and appreciate her comments and experience along the border.
In August of 2023, illegal alien Kindu Jeancy Zamambu was charged with felony first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment for assaulting a woman at a hotel in Cheektowaga, New York.
Zamambu, a 23-year-old national of the Democratic Republic of Congo, entered California on February 13, 2023. He was arrested about 1 mile west of San Ysidro, which is the San Diego area. ICE enrolled Zamambu in Alternatives to Detention and released him into the U.S. Less than 6 months later, he was assaulting a woman in New York.
Next, is Daniel Hernandez Martinez from Venezuela. Within 6 months of his release in the United States, Venezuelan national Daniel Hernandez Martinez committed at least 22 criminal offenses in New York City.
He is charged with petit larceny on four separate occasions, criminal possession of stolen property on three occasions, multiple charges for menacing, assault, attempted assault, criminal mischief, possession of burglary tools, disorderly conduct, and more.
He was released into the United States without any legal justification.
In addition to his crimes, DHS records indicate he is a suspected member of the dangerous Tren de Aragua gang. Currently, there are no DHS records to indicate that ICE has removed him from the country.
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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his stirring testimony.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2023, Jose Barrera Amaya was arrested for drunken conduct and fighting. DHS arrested Barrera Amaya, but the agency released him on the very same day. Just months after his first arrest in March 2024, Barrera Amaya was arrested for stabbing his neighbor and his neighbor's brother at a laundromat.
DHS first encountered Barrera Amaya in December 2021 along the U.S.- Mexico border. After being expelled pursuant to title 32, press reports indicated that Barrera Amaya had reentered the country as a got-away through Eagle Pass, Texas.
Jose Ibarra from Venezuela: Border Patrol apprehended Jose Ibarra in September 2022, and the Biden-Harris administration released Ibarra into the U.S. just 1 day later because it determined that Ibarra's release was warranted due to urgent and humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit.
On February 22, 2024, Jose Ibarra murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley in Athens, Georgia. Riley's body was found on the University of Georgia campus after she had gone for a run.
A day later, authorities arrested the 26-year-old Venezuelan national in connection with Riley's murder and charged him with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another.
Laken Riley would be alive today if Biden and Harris were enforcing the law instead of releasing hardened criminals like Jose Ibarra.
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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for all of his good work on the issue.
Mr. Speaker, Jesus Enrique Ramirez Cabrera was arrested September 7 after abducting a high school girl in Manassas, Virginia. Cabrera allegedly approached the girl on her morning walk to school, falsely identified himself as a police officer, and then forced the girl into his car, abducting her. Thankfully, the girl was able to escape with minor injuries out of the moving car.
He was found and charged with abduction, robbery, impersonating a police officer, and petit larceny.
U.S. Border Patrol had arrested Ramirez Cabrera on December 9, 2023, after he unlawfully entered the United States near San Luis, Arizona. U.S. CBP issued Ramirez a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and then released him from custody.
Here is another case that impacts Virginia. Jose Fabricio Veizaga- Vargas, who is a Bolivian, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol on April 24, 2023. Now, remember this: On April 24, 2023, after he unlawfully entered the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, Veizaga was served with a notice to appear before a DOJ immigration judge, who released him on his own recognizance on April 25, 2023.
Following his arrest by Fairfax County Police on May 3, ERO Washington lodged an immigration detainer against Veizaga.
The Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court convicted Veizaga of misdemeanor sexual assault of a child aged 13 to 14 and sentenced him to 6 months in jail, but the court then suspended all 6 months of the sentence. The Fairfax County Adult Detention Center refused to honor the immigration detainer and then released him from custody without even notifying ERO Washington, D.C.
Veizaga was again arrested on August 8--this is all in 2023--by Fairfax County Police and charged with misdemeanor DWI. The detention center refused to honor ERO Washington's immigration detainer again and released him without notifying ERO Washington, D.C.
Fairfax County Police arrested Veizaga a week later and charged him with seven counts of felony possession of child pornography, felony possession of obscene material with a minor. The detention center refused again to honor the immigration detainer and again released Veizaga onto the streets without notifying ERO Washington, D.C.
Ultimately, on August 19--remember, this is all in 2023--in Annandale, Virginia, 36-year-old Bolivian Jose Fabricio Veizaga-Vargas was apprehended by ERO, Enforcement Removal Operations, and convicted of sexually assaulting a Virginia child. He is also now charged with DWI and possession of child sexual abuse material.
The point of it is that we see how much havoc this one individual wreaked upon Virginia. That is what we have because of the Biden-Harris open-border policies.
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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Good for his remarks. It is a pleasure to hear from him and have him participate.
After everything we have heard tonight, it is no wonder that Kamala Harris has been working hard to distance herself from her role as the border czar. Under her watch, more than 10 million illegal aliens have crossed our border, 350 terrorists have been stopped at the border, of which 100 of those were released into the country. That is just who we know about.
Since 2021, more than 200,000 Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses, and enough fentanyl has come into the country to kill 458 million people, more than enough to kill every American alive.
More than 300,000 children have been misplaced under the border czar's watch. In fact, she can't even tell you, Mr. Speaker, exactly how many are missing. She has no idea where they are. All we know is that sometimes you had an individual sponsor receive as many as 40, 50, or 60 unaccompanied young children whom we don't know now where they are, and we don't vet the sponsors anyway.
Now, Kamala Harris wants us to believe that she would be tough on the border and that she would solve the crisis.
Why would anyone believe her?
What would she do differently than when she was second in command of the executive branch and designated the border czar?
The reality is she wouldn't do anything differently.
We know this not only from her record as the border czar but also from the policies she has supported throughout her career.
Let's just recount some of those. For instance, she called the border wall stupid, useless, and a medieval vanity project. That is not unlike one of Arizona's Congressmen, Mr. Gallego, who said that it was stupid and useless.
Here we have Kamala Harris saying that the detention centers need to be shut down, promising to do so if she was President.
She has supported measures to reduce detention bed numbers and cut funding for border wall construction.
She opposed all of President Trump's effective border policies, including remain in Mexico and title 42.
She has even said she supports using taxpayer dollars to pay for sex change surgeries for detained illegal aliens.
Does that sound like someone who wants to fix the border?
Does that sound like a border State prosecutor which she now aggrandizes herself as as she goes around the country campaigning?
There should be no doubt that if Kamala Harris is in the White House next year we will only get more of the same and maybe even worse.
Mr. Speaker, if you thought 10 million illegal aliens in 4 years was bad, you just wait. The American people should not be fooled.
Now, talking about not being fooled, here is what you have from former San Diego Sector Chief Agent Aaron Heitke who told members of the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday that the White House repeatedly tried to fake America out, to ``quiet the border-wide crisis.''
What was she doing? What was the Biden-Harris administration doing?
She was shielding information from the press and concealing crossings by dangerous migrants with terrorist ties.
This is what he said: ``I had to release illegal aliens by the hundreds each day into communities who could not support them.
``To quiet the problem, two flights a week were provided from San Diego to Texas. These flights simply brought aliens that would have been released in San Diego over to Texas.''
Each flight cost about $150,000.
That is what Kamala Harris the border czar did.
What else did the administration do?
What else did she do to hide what is happening at the border?
For one thing, they don't count CBP One entrance or the Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua program as encounters. So when you count and you see the number, Mr. Speaker, you are not going to see that.
So what does that mean?
It means the last 15 months CBP One people have come in and been released into the country under that fraudulent, illegal program, by the way. There are 815,000 just in that program that they don't count. Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua, 530,000 in the same period of time, 530,000.
Mr. Speaker, do you wonder why you have Tren de Aragua all over the country?
By the way, about 6 weeks ago, CBP actually issued from their headquarters to the field offices a notification saying: Hey, watch out, Tren de Aragua is now embedded and infiltrating the country, but it is moving to the Northeast part of the United States of America.
In the same memo, they said: Also, be aware that Iran and Iranian proxies are flooding our border with terrorists.
That is not Biggs talking. That is Kamala Harris' own administration admitting their failure.
How about this: Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve, just yesterday said: Do you know what is causing rising unemployment?
It is unfettered illegal immigration.
That is from Kamala Harris' administration. They appointed Jerome Powell to be the head of the Federal Reserve. That is what you see from this border, Mr. Speaker.
Do you know what, Mr. Speaker? I have literally listened to some of my colleagues in our committee say: There is no crisis on the border. There is no problem on the border. El Paso, for instance, is a loving community. We don't have a problem.
Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
We have a problem not just on the border anymore. Arizona is a transit for illegal migration. Phoenix is a hub for human sex and drug trafficking. We have got multiple interstates going through there, and the illegal migration comes up and goes from Phoenix and is distributed throughout the country.
That is why Arizona, Texas, California, and New Mexico now are not the only States suffering under the rampage of an invasion of illegal migrants. It is every State and every community.
So, Mr. Speaker, when you talk about who controls the borders, it is the cartels. The cartels control the border. There are multiple plaza fights going on right now between various factions, some within the Sinaloa cartel in and of itself, going after each other trying to pick up pieces so they can control the plaza. That is what is going on.
Why is it going on?
It is because this administration refuses to enforce the law. It is going on because when President Biden was elected, within 72 hours he had issued more than 100 executive orders, many of which were to basically emasculate the border security and policy of the previous administration under Donald Trump which was so successful.
I will give you now just one quick example, Mr. Speaker.
The Yuma sector, the last year Donald Trump was President, had fewer than 8,600 encounters. There have been weekends under this administration that they have had 8,600 encounters. The Tucson sector 60,000 per year on average under the previous administration.
Under this administration, there have been months, nearing 60,000. That is what you have to understand, Mr. Speaker. It isn't just numbers. These numbers represent people who come in here, some with benign intentions and others with malevolent intentions.
Mr. Speaker, this has got to stop, and it must end now, but this administration refuses to do it. H.R. 2 sits languishing over there in the Senate. It has been there for 1\1/2\ years. That is a bill that would bring this to a halt quickly.
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