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Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, on Thanksgiving Day, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom should have been at home celebrating the holiday with her family. Instead, she lost her life, murdered 1 day before Thanksgiving. Her killer is an Afghan national--someone Joe Biden flew into this country without proper vetting.

Sarah served in the West Virginia National Guard. She wore the uniform of the U.S. Army. She was murdered on American soil by someone who never should have been here.

This is the tragic cost of Joe Biden's open border policies. It is also a sign of national security weakness. For 4 years, Joe Biden and pro-crime Democrats turned our border into a New York City subway turnstile--no fare enforced; just hop right on in. It was routine for 10,000 illegal immigrants to flood across our Nation's southern border on a daily basis. Criminals, gang members, drug traffickers, terrorists--they all came in. For these failed policies, Americans have paid the price: Laken Riley in Georgia, Rachel Morin in Maryland, and many, many others.

Today, President Trump and Republicans are ending the chaos, securing the border in record time, and getting America back on track. We acted fast. We started here in the Senate with the Laken Riley Act. It was the first piece of legislation President Trump signed into law. It mandates that illegal immigrant criminals be detained and moved.

Republicans ended catch-and-release. We stopped the illegal invasion into our country. For the past 6 months, zero--zero--illegal immigrants have been released into our country. Under Joe Biden, it was often 10,000 a day.

For the first time in 17 years, the backlog of immigration cases is actually going down. Immigration judges can finally do their job. Open border, rubberstamping judges are gone. Interior enforcement is making our communities safer. Seventy percent of ICE arrests are illegal immigrant criminals. They are individuals charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States.

During the week of Thanksgiving, ICE worked overtime. They arrested a convicted murderer in California, a convicted rapist in Tennessee, and a convicted drug trafficker in Delaware. Every one of these arrests makes our country safer. These criminals and many more are off our streets because Republicans have acted.

We didn't just secure the border for today, we secured it into the future because, in July, Republicans passed and President Trump signed into law the largest border security investment in American history, $170 billion. The law finishes the wall, it provides $75 billion for ICE, and gives our agents the resources they need to continue to deport illegal immigrant criminals. Our law helps train, hire, and retain Border Patrol agents. It even gives them a bonus.

Republicans have made a generational investment in American border security. Every Democrat in the Senate voted against it. Republicans voted to deport illegal immigrant criminals; Democrats voted to keep them in our communities. Republicans voted to secure the border; Democrats voted to keep it wide open. Republicans voted to hire Border Patrol agents; Democrats voted for free healthcare for illegal immigrants.

The dangers from Joe Biden's open policies remain today, and it is serious because millions of illegal immigrants are still here. Among them are criminals, cartel members, drug dealers, and terror suspects. We are tracking them down, and we are sending them home.

The damage Democrats have inflicted on our country runs deeper than most Americans realize, more than they know. Let's look at the situation right now in Minnesota. This week, the New York Times reported that immigrants from Somalia living in Minnesota have been defrauding American taxpayers out of $1 billion--$1 billion--living in Minnesota, immigrants from Somalia.

Investigators from the magazine City Journal found where the stolen money went. As they say, ``follow the money.'' According to their reporting, the largest funder of al-Shabaab--which, as you know, is a terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida--the largest funder of al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer. How could that be? How could it be that American taxpayers are funding a group affiliated with al- Qaida? Taxpayers didn't know it, weren't aware of it.

Here is how the scheme worked: Fraudsters created fake companies that exist only on paper. They billed the government for services never provided, or they enrolled children in programs that they didn't need. Then they funneled the stolen money out of our country. Some went to buy luxury cars and real estate, some went directly to al-Shabaab. This was organized, systematic theft. It went on for years under Democratic leadership, and then it exploded under Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and her Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz, the current Governor of Minnesota.

No one stopped it until President Trump was elected. Then, this is what happened: In June, President Trump appointed Joe Thompson as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota. Thompson immediately began bringing charges. So far, dozens of defendants have been charged. This is what Thompson discovered.

He said:

What we see are schemes stacked upon schemes draining resources meant for those in need.

``[m]eant for those in need.''

Safety net programs, draining those resources.

``The depth of the fraud,'' he went on, ``takes my breath away.'' It should take away the breath of all Americans when they see what was going on in Minnesota. The most fascinating thing is it doesn't take the breath away of the Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Oh, no, on Sunday, he was on ``Meet the Press'' talking to the Nation. You would think he would have expressed outrage. No, he made excuses. Instead of condemning the fraud, condemning the theft, condemning the funneling of taxpayer money overseas to a terrorist organization, he claimed the problem was President Trump. He must be back on his old talking points from the campaign where Trump won in a landslide.

Walz said we need to be ``careful'' about how we talk. Think about that. American taxpayer dollars funding terrorism funneled out of the country, and Democrats want us to be ``careful'' about how we talk. He is worried about our tone.

Here is what the Minnesota Governor will not tell you. Many of those charged have close ties to Minnesota Democrats. He doesn't want you to look over there, oh, no, including the socialist Squad member Representative Omar. That is why Democrats want to sweep it under the rug, want to hide it from public view: No, no. Look at President Trump. Don't look at us.

This is what is wrong: When Democrats prioritize open borders, what do we get? Waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption. And the Democrats look the other way. Because President Trump won, we are bringing these criminals to justice.

According to the latest Harvard-Harris poll, 8 in 10 Americans support deporting illegal criminals. That includes 7 in 10 Democrats. I am not sure how many of those would fit in this Senate Chamber on the Democrat side of the aisle, but 7 to 10 Democrats across the country are supportive of deportation of illegal immigrant criminals. Three in four Americans want the government to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse and corruption. I am not sure who doesn't want us to eliminate that. Three out of four Americans say get rid of it, and I agree. Seven in ten support closing the border with enhanced security, and that is exactly what we are doing.

It is not complicated. Americans oppose illegal immigration, support border security, and want criminal illegal immigrants removed. Republicans work for the American people, not for the open border activists across the aisle.

Americans deserve secure borders, deserve safe communities. That is what Republicans are continuing to deliver. We are securing Americans borders, protecting American families, and we are making America safer.

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