Illegal Immigration

Floor Speech

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Mr. WIED. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues to address an issue that has plagued our Nation over the last 4 years and to let the American people know that the House GOP is working alongside President Trump to secure our border and make the safety of American citizens our number one priority.

When President Trump left office 4 years ago, our border was secure, and significant progress was being made on the border wall. On the first day of the Biden administration, Joe Biden unilaterally reversed nearly all of the successful policies of the Trump administration and invited an invasion at our southern border.

Every State became a border State, including my home state of Wisconsin. Every county became a border county. Every town became a border town. We saw unprecedented numbers of illegal aliens crossing our border and invading our country. Many of these individuals have committed violent felonies and other serious crimes since entering this country.

As I traveled through all 11 counties in Wisconsin's Eighth Congressional District, I heard from citizens who wanted the lawlessness to end. I also heard from sheriffs who had gang members taking up spaces in their jails with no plans to deport them.

Make no mistake, this crisis was a policy choice of Joe Biden and the Democrats. They purposely shredded President Trump's successful border security playbook and allowed unmitigated illegal immigration to continue uninterrupted and unimpeded for 4 straight years.

In just over 2 weeks since President Trump has taken office, he has done more to secure our border and protect Americans than President Biden did in 4 years.

As you can see, over the past 2 years, there was an average of more than 1,500 illegal migrants encountered at our border every single day.

In President Trump's first days in office, that number had fallen to fewer than 50 encounters. Since then, we have continued to see a 63 percent drop in illegal encounters at the border on average.

This is what happens when you have a President who prioritizes the safety of American citizens.

President Trump has reinstated the remain in Mexico policy, and I am proud to cosponsor a bill by Representative Brandon Gill to make this policy permanent so that future, radical administrations cannot undo our progress.

We also passed the Laken Riley Act and the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act. These bills ensure that anyone in this country illegally who commits a crime, whether it be a theft or sexual assault, will have an ICE detainer placed on them immediately.

The House of Representatives just passed the HALT Fentanyl Act, permanently criminalizing fentanyl.

In 2023, 70 percent of the 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. involved a synthetic opioid such as fentanyl.

Every single life lost is more than a statistic. Families should not have to feel this heartbreak, and this legislation will prevent future lives from being lost to this deadly drug.

This is just the beginning. We will not rest until our border is secure again and Americans feel safe in their communities again.

My pledge to the people of Wisconsin's Eighth Congressional District and to citizens all across the United States is that House Republicans will never relent in our mission to make America safe again.

I thank President Trump and my Republican colleagues for their leadership on this issue. A nation without borders is no nation at all.

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