Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ONDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 35, the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act.

This important legislation would make it a crime to evade arrest or detention while operating a motor vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border. For aliens, the bill would go a step further, making it a deportable offense to flee from a pursuing Border Patrol agent.

Our southern border is under attack, and our Border Patrol agents are on the front lines. The former administration depleted Border Patrol resources, leaving them with an impossible task that routinely puts them in harm's way.

The Border Patrol experienced over 5,700 encounters every day in December 2022, the month that Agent Raul Gonzalez was killed while pursuing an illegal alien who was evading arrest.

The following year, the Biden administration doubled down on its open-border policies, surging these encounters to 2.5 million in 2023.

Under President Biden's so-called leadership, border wall materials were sold off, and razor wire was removed.

Under President Trump's leadership, we are taking full advantage of our resources to secure the border, and Mexico and Canada have already agreed to bolster enforcement.

The Trump policies are already working. Yesterday, The Washington Times reported what they called a reverse flow of illegal immigrants streaming back home after being blocked at Trump's border.

When migrants learn of the new, enhanced security measures at the southern border, they are giving up and going home. Border Patrol agents who previously encountered as many as 10,000 illegal immigrants in a day are seeing fewer than 500.

By passing this legislation, we are showing Border Patrol agents that we have their backs and that we prioritize their safety. This bill provides additional protections for Border Patrol agents by imposing harsher penalties for illegal aliens evading arrest at our border.

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