Laken Riley Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. YAKYM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Laken Riley Act.

The Biden-Harris administration was marked by failure and corruption, but the failure that sits head and shoulders above all others was their open-border policy. Almost immediately after President Biden was sworn in, America was overrun by a massive, unprecedented surge in illegal immigrants.

The chart next to me shows just how dramatically President Biden failed compared to his predecessors, over double the southern border crossings of any President since 2001. This border chaos was ignored for all 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration. It was downplayed as seasonal or written off as mere ebbs and flows.

Mr. Speaker, find me somewhere on this chart where the surge was only seasonal. Show me where it ebbed or flowed.

Illegal immigrants continued streaming across President Biden's open border in droves because they knew they would face no consequences from an administration that was more focused on inventing new rhetorical flourishes to paper over this very real crisis. They were more content to wish it away rather than actually do something about it.

President Biden's failure at the border had impacts across America. Every town was a border town. Once sleepy places were suddenly forced to contend with sex trafficking, drug trafficking, child labor, infectious diseases, petty theft, and, yes, even rape and murder.

Cartels got rich, and small towns in my district were left scrambling for money and resources. This chaos was a choice made every single day of Joe Biden's Presidency.

No more, Mr. Speaker. Monday marked a new era. President Trump has already taken more decisive action in 48 hours than President Biden took in 4 years.

Mr. Speaker, let's send this bill to President Trump's desk. I urge my colleagues to vote for sanity and common sense. I urge them to vote ``yes.''

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