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Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I find it so interesting how people are watching so closely to see what this administration does, and I have been so pleased to see that the polling shows, by an overwhelming amount, 70 percent of the American people agree with how President Donald Trump is carrying out his job, getting things done for the American people, things that they voted to see done, and he is keeping those promises.

Now, when we look at the issue of illegal immigration, we see that in his first weeks back in office, what he has done at the top of his to- do list has been to take action to secure this border. The numbers that we are seeing, how they have dropped with the number of encounters, with the number of ``got-aways,'' this is encouraging. The message is out there. The United States is going to protect and defend its sovereignty. We are going to protect and defend our people. That is important, and we are seeing it.

Now, the President has taken some Executive actions that have yielded results. By Executive order, he restored the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy. He restarted the border wall construction--which, by the way, this is something the Border Patrol has told us not for just a few years, but for decades: We need a border wall. That is where the phrase ``build the wall'' came from; it came from people that are down there every day protecting this country from harm.

The President has also ended catch-and-release. Now, that is that practice where somebody comes across, and then they get their paper that they are claiming asylum, and they are told that they can go on into the country and go wherever. And there are nonprofits down there on the border, and they give them a plane ticket and food and a phone and off they go to their desired destination at taxpayer expense. So that has ended.

The President has also sent troops to the southern border and, thank goodness, we are seeing these deportations of criminal illegal aliens taking place.

Yesterday in Nashville, we had eight that were apprehended in a human trafficking ring--eight. Two of them are linked to Tren de Aragua. They were Tren de Aragua gang members.

Now, these are all things that the President is doing to make this country safe, and we have security moms all across this country--and certainly across Tennessee--who are reaching out to us and saying: Keep it going. Deport those who are criminally in this country. Let's carry this out. We are seeing such good results.

In operations across the country, ICE, which is Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has arrested 11,000 criminal illegal aliens, including many violent offenders and gang members. Since inauguration day, migrant encounters at the southern border have reportedly dropped 87 percent. As I said, we are seeing results.

We know that for years, former President Biden allowed more than 10 million illegal aliens to enter the country, including tens of thousands of convicted criminals and more than 1.7 million known ``got- aways.'' And for 4 years, Tennesseans and Americans across the country have suffered the tragic consequences, including rampant migrant crime.

Recently, our Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference released a report documenting the widespread migrant crime in our State during the final months of the Biden administration. Now, the report confirms what we already know, that during the Biden years, every town was a border town; every State was a border State.

So our Tennessee District Attorneys General took the last 3 months of 2024 and they said: Let's look at what is happening in these last 3 months and see how this has escalated.

Now, of course, we know that under Joe Biden violent crime rose 43 percent his first year that he was in office. And what we saw from the District Attorneys' General report is that there were, in 3 months--now this is a 3-month number--there were 2,719 reports of illegal aliens being charged or convicted of 3,854 offenses in the State of Tennessee. Among them, the most common offense was driving under the influence. There were 654 arrests of those illegally in the country driving under the influence. These offenses accounted for more than 13 percent of all DUI arrests across the entire State.

And this problem is a big reason why, last year, my Republican colleagues and I introduced the Protect Our Communities From DUIs Act. This bill would automatically deport any illegal alien who is charged with driving under the influence.

As I have gone across our State, in each of our 95 counties--which I visit every year--in each of these counties, I have heard from law enforcement, from police chiefs, from sheriffs that these DUIs are such an incredible problem, and the number that are committed by those illegally in the country.

Now, over this same 3-month period, illegal aliens committed hundreds of violent, heinous crimes: 154 instances of domestic assault, 80 of aggravated assault, 21--21--convicted of child abuse, 9 of statutory rape, 8 of sexual exploitation of a minor, 7 of vehicular homicide, 4 of murder, 3 of rape of a child. And the list goes on and on.

As I said, over 2,700 illegally in the country that were convicted of more than 3,800 crimes.

Disturbingly, these numbers are likely an undercount. Only 73 of Tennessee's 95 counties reported data to the District Attorneys General Conference under Biden. National data showed illegal aliens were pouring in from countries all over the world, and the Tennessee Migrant Crime Report also reflects this. There were 92 unique countries of origin--from Mexico and Guatemala, Jamaica, Romania.

Here is the bottom line: Because of Joe Biden's open border policy that was supported by far too many of my Democratic colleagues, thousands of crimes were committed by thousands of criminal illegal aliens in the State of Tennessee over just a 3-month span. And this, my colleagues, is just one State. This is my State, but we know this is happening in communities all across this country.

More than anything, the report underscores the importance of President Trump's mass deportations which are underway. There are many ways that Congress can support these efforts. My CLEAR Act, which I have talked about many times on the floor, would ensure State and local law enforcement officials have the tools to help the Federal Government deport criminal illegal aliens. This is crucial, especially when you have got far-left leaders like the Chicago mayor refusing to turn over criminal illegal aliens to Federal custody.

Now, General Bondi is suing these sanctuary cities for allowing criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our great Nation to harm Americans. And thank goodness, she is being tough on crime.

I have also introduced the Preventing Violence Against Women By Illegal Aliens Act, which would allow the deportation of illegal aliens convicted of sexual offenses or domestic violence. Any illegal aliens who commit these heinous crimes should be removed from the country immediately, and I encourage all of my colleagues on each side of the aisle, support this.

And my CONTAINER Act would ensure that border States like Texas have the legal authority to place temporary barriers on Federal land to help stop the flow of traffickers, drugs, and criminals coming across the border.

There are thousands of criminal illegal aliens residing in Tennessee and across the country. We should be using every resource at our disposal to remove them from our country. In many ways, the bills that I have mentioned would help President Trump to get the job done.

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