House Republicans Delivering Results for American People

Floor Speech

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Mr. MACKENZIE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, two of the most important issues confronting our citizens today are the state of our economy and also the safety in our local communities. My focus while serving as an elected Member of Congress will be to address those two issues and the mess that we have been handed over the past 4 years from the Biden administration.

Over those last 4 years and preceding that, there were decisions made by State and local elected officials which have made our country less safe and our communities at home in a vulnerable situation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today as a member of the Homeland Security Committee to speak about the safety of our Lehigh Valley community and how the actions of one local elected official, Northampton's county executive, exemplified the negative impact that radical policy decisions can have on the safety of our law enforcement officers and the safety of our entire community.

In March 2020, 5 years ago, the Northampton County executive issued an order prohibiting county law enforcement from cooperating with ICE unless ICE acquired arrest warrants before working to capture criminal illegal immigrants.

Recently, the dangerous results of this policy were put on clear display in our local community and placed law enforcement and the general public in greater danger.

Over the last 4 years, our Nation has witnessed an unprecedented surge of illegal immigration. Under Joe Biden's administration, over 2 million illegal immigrants crossed the border each year, burdening communities nationwide. As of July 21, 2024, ICE reported that there were over 100,000 nondetained illegal immigrants with convictions, including homicide, assault, rape, and robbery.

In Pennsylvania alone, illegal immigration is costing taxpayers over $300 million for police and corrections, but this isn't just a statistical problem.

In our community of Lehigh Valley, 2 weeks ago, ICE agents arrested Luis Gualdron-Gualdron outside of the Northampton County Prison, which is situated within the Seventh District of Pennsylvania, which I have been elected to represent.

According to ICE, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Gualdron near Brownsville, Texas, in December of 2023 for illegally entering the United States. He was served the next day with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. He made his way all the way to our local community 5 months later, and he was arrested in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on charges of indecent assault against a minor.

In cases where individuals have entered our country illegally and then broken an additional law, the public has a right to expect that our local officials will cooperate fully with the Federal authorities. Unfortunately, that was not the case in this situation.

The county executive's order caused ICE to be forced to arrest this dangerous predator outside of the prison. There was no ability for a proper hand off to take place.

There is no need to just take my word that this was a dangerous situation. My office has spoken to ICE, and they explained that allowing this predator to leave the prison, rather than be arrested while already detained, greatly increased the possibility for escape from capture as this prisoner would have been free on the streets.

It also increases the danger to those law enforcement individuals who have to make an arrest in an uncontrolled environment, and it puts the public in greater danger as this predator has a greater chance of escaping justice.

Thankfully, ICE officers were successful in staking out the prison and arresting Gualdron, but that took them off of the streets, took away valuable law enforcement time, put them in greater jeopardy, and put our community in greater jeopardy. They shouldn't have been put in that situation but for that executive order from the Northampton County executive back in 2020.

Madam Speaker, this is simply unacceptable. At a time when our country is reeling from the consequences of 4 years of open borders, we also have to deal with these situations in our local communities.

We are making ICE jump through hoops to deport criminals who assault children, and it definitely shouldn't be happening right here in a community that is flagged as a trafficking hub. We know the problems. We are aware of the problems. We should be working with our Federal law enforcement agencies to make sure that these predators are off the streets.

The law-abiding residents of the Lehigh Valley and our entire country and community should never have to wonder whether criminal illegal immigrants will escape justice due to the challenges that have been created by our own elected officials.

The American people have made their position crystal clear on this. Madam Speaker, 80 percent of Americans oppose the concept of sanctuary cities, and 83 percent support deporting illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes.

Let me repeat that. There are 83 percent of individuals who support deporting illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes.

At the same time, we have a local elected official following through on the executive order that he signed back in 2020, making it such that our Federal law enforcement agents can't do their job and deport this violent criminal who has made his way all the way to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Madam Speaker, this is simply unacceptable, and it is time for a change. I am calling on the leaders of our local communities and this Northampton County executive to fully rescind that executive order, which is standing in the way of law enforcement doing their job.

Anything less is an admission on his part that he is going to stand with violent criminals and against our law enforcement. That is what it is. The public has spoken, and 83 percent of people want these violent criminals deported; yet, we have one person in Northampton County standing in their way.

I encourage that individual to change his mind, rescind that executive order which is inhibiting our law enforcement from doing their jobs, which is leaving them less safe and leaving our community more vulnerable, and ultimately leaving our country in a disastrous position. This is the very least that we can do to ensure the safety of our residents.

As the elected Congressman from Pennsylvania's Seventh Congressional District, I am going to continue to fight for all of our residents, every single one of them, to make sure that they are safe every single day of the week.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate and thank, again, the gentleman from Utah for this opportunity to address the Chamber this evening.

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