During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) had his deportation bill blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
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NewsTranscript
00:00 President Biden, nearly 10 million illegal immigrants have entered our country.
00:03 Now among those 10 million are an unknown number of dangerous individuals.
00:08 We know that hundreds of individuals appear on the terrorism watch list.
00:13 We know that a significant number of transnational cartel members are in this population.
00:18 Other categories include drug smugglers, human traffickers, and many more.
00:23 There's a laundry list of bad actors who have no business stepping foot in our country.
00:29 And sadly, it's not a surprise when we allow over half a million illegal immigrants
00:35 with criminal records into the homeland that they commit crimes against American citizens.
00:41 Even members of law enforcement, the very people entrusted with keeping us safe,
00:46 are now on the front lines of the border crisis.
00:48 And no, I'm not talking about police in border states like Texas or Arizona.
00:54 I'm talking about North Carolina, my state.
00:57 I'm talking about New York City.
00:59 Two years ago in my home state of North Carolina, Wake County Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd
01:05 was killed in the line of duty by an illegal alien gang member
01:09 who crossed the border under President Biden.
01:12 And just this week in Queens, New York,
01:15 NYPD officers were shot while trying to apprehend a suspect in a string of robberies.
01:20 And one was shot in the stomach and the other was shot in the leg.
01:24 Now thankfully, they're going to survive.
01:26 And our prayers are with them and their families, and we're grateful for their service to our country.
01:30 But the suspect was identified as a 19-year-old from Venezuela
01:35 who crossed the border illegally through Eagle Pass, Texas in July of last year.
01:40 Worse yet, he was caught and then he was released with a court date that he predictably ignored.
01:47 So enough is enough.
01:49 I'm back here on the Senate floor to once again try and pass a bill called the Police Act.
01:56 It's a straightforward bill.
01:57 The Police Act simply states that an alien can be deported for
02:02 assaulting a police officer, a firefighter, or another first responder.
02:06 But this bill has already passed the House,
02:10 and it can be sent to the President's desk by passing it right here today.
02:16 Pretty simple.
02:17 But now the last time I tried to pass this bill,
02:20 Senator from Connecticut, he blocked it and he called it nothing.
02:23 That's 100% wrong.
02:26 Specifically, the Police Act, it amends the Immigration and Nationality Act
02:30 to explicitly state that an illegal immigrant may be deported for assaulting a police officer.
02:37 Now, it's important to point out that the current law does not cover all assaults against law
02:43 enforcement.
02:44 That means that some immigrants can remain in the country even after committing assaults against
02:50 cops.
02:52 And we know that under the Biden administration, that is a very real possibility, unfortunately.
02:57 But the truth is that we cannot trust this administration to do the right thing or enforce
03:02 the law and to keep our communities safe.
03:04 That's why we need to pass the Police Act today.
03:07 Any senator who claims to back the blue should have no problem at all supporting this bill.
03:15 So I sincerely hope that in the face of yet another attack on police officers,
03:19 that we can pass this bill today.
03:22 And as in legislative session, and notwithstanding Rule 22, I ask unanimous consent that the
03:27 Committee on Judiciary be discharged for further consideration of H.R. 2494 and the Senate
03:33 proceed to its immediate consideration.
03:35 Further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion
03:40 to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
03:44 Is there objection?
03:46 Mr. President, Senator from Connecticut.
03:48 Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the Border Patrol Union, our law enforcement
03:57 officers who patrol the southern and northern border, who serve this country, who protect
04:04 this country, endorsed the bipartisan border security bill that my friend from North Carolina
04:14 opposed, as did almost all of his colleagues.
04:19 The Border Patrol Union, the organization that represents law enforcement officers,
04:26 supported that bill for a number of reasons.
04:29 It would have surged resources to the southern border to make sure that we properly administered
04:39 our border and made sure that only people are coming to this country who have legitimate
04:43 asylum claims.
04:44 It would have invested in technology to make those Border Patrol officers' job easier.
04:50 It would have granted new hiring authorities to make sure that we can get people down to
04:55 the border faster rather than just redeploying agents from the northern border to the southern
05:01 border.
05:01 But it's likely that they supported that bill for an additional reason.
05:06 Under current law, if you are coming to this country to apply for asylum, you are going
05:14 to have to make a claim.
05:14 If you have a criminal history in the United States during a prior visit or in your home
05:22 country, that question is not relevant under existing law until you go before an asylum
05:31 judge, before you go before an immigration judge to make your asylum claim.
05:35 Senator Lankford, myself, Senator Sinema, we thought that didn't make sense.
05:40 That the history of your prior criminal history should be relevant the minute that you show
05:46 up at the border.
05:46 You don't get into the United States to make your claim of asylum if you have a criminal
05:52 history.
05:53 That was part of the bipartisan border bill.
05:56 That would have protected the country.
05:59 That would have protected our law enforcement officers.
06:02 But my Republican colleagues turned down the opportunity to pass bipartisan legislation
06:10 that would protect our law enforcement officials and criminal records from coming into the
06:15 country and applying for asylum.
06:17 Because under current law, that the president is bound to administer and enforce, those
06:24 questions are not brought into the process until that asylum claim is being heard by
06:30 a judge.
06:30 And so it's just another example of the ways in which the bipartisan border bill, the bill
06:38 that banned Democrats negotiate, would have made this country safer, would have created
06:43 a more efficient and more secure border.
06:46 And I am still furious and heartbroken that Republicans decided to keep the border a mess
06:53 because it helps their presidential candidate politically instead of trying to solve a problem.
06:58 As for this specific measure, as I said last time I came to the floor to object,
07:07 it is already under current law a deportable offense if you commit a crime of violence.
07:15 It is already under current law a deportable offense if you commit and are convicted of
07:21 any crime involving moral turpitude.
07:24 And further, non-citizens who are convicted of any aggravated felony, including misdemeanor
07:32 offenses, are deportable as well.
07:36 So this bill is seeking to solve a problem that doesn't exist because current law says
07:43 if you commit an assault on a law enforcement officer, you are going to be deported.
07:52 And so why are we debating this bill if current law already says you can be deported for
08:00 assaulting a police officer?
08:02 I don't know the answer, but what I know is that there is a broader effort underfoot
08:09 by former President Trump and my Republican colleagues to try to make Americans believe
08:15 that there is a specific, unique threat posed to you by immigrants.
08:20 You should fear people that are coming to this country to seek a better life.
08:30 Or to flee terror or torture.
08:32 It's a familiar trope because it was used against my forefathers when they came here
08:38 from Ireland.
08:38 It was used against those who came to the United States in prior generations.
08:43 You should fear the Irish.
08:44 You should fear the Italians.
08:45 You should fear the Chinese.
08:48 Today, you should fear those who are coming from Central and South America.
08:52 But it's just not the truth.
08:57 I know it is hard to hear for some folks that believe everything they watch on Fox News,
09:04 but individuals who are first-generation immigrants to this country are less likely
09:14 to be convicted of violent crimes than individuals who are born in this country.
09:17 In 2020, the Trump DOJ sought to prove that false.
09:25 They actually commissioned research to examine the rate of crime between non-citizens and
09:32 citizens because they couldn't believe the data.
09:35 Because Fox News says that we should fear immigrants.
09:38 Here's one of the papers that was commissioned by the Trump DOJ.
09:45 We find that undocumented immigrants have substantially lower crime rates than native-born
09:52 citizens across a range of felony offenses.
09:56 Relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are over two times more likely to
10:01 be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes,
10:06 and over four times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.
10:10 These are direct – these are quotes directly from a Trump-funded Department of Justice
10:16 report.
10:17 I don't disagree with my colleague from North Carolina.
10:22 Of course, if someone commits an assault against a law enforcement officer, they should be
10:28 deported from this country.
10:30 If somebody commits an assault against a community member, regardless of their occupation, they
10:37 should be deported from this country.
10:39 That's what the existing law says.
10:41 If you are convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor assault, any crime of moral turpitude, you
10:49 are deportable.
10:51 And so, to me, this is duplicative at best, and at worst, an effort to just try to reinforce
11:00 this very dangerous mythology that this country has something to fear from immigrants who
11:10 are coming to this country to flee economic desperation and violence and terror and torture.
11:18 And for that reason, I would object.
11:19 Objection is heard.
11:20 Senator from North Carolina.
11:22 I appreciate my colleague's comments.
11:24 I believe them to be sincere.
11:26 But let's not get lost in the swirl of eloquence here.
11:29 You know, I believe my colleague, he once said that illegal immigrants are undocumented
11:35 Americans, direct quote, and that they are the people we care about the most, another
11:41 direct quote.
11:42 But I would submit that if you illegally enter the United States and then beat up a police
11:46 officer, you are most certainly going to be arrested.
11:48 You are most certainly not an American.
11:50 And the only thing that we should care about is that you're deported.
11:54 Now, he said these laws can lead to deportation, but it's not necessary that they do, particularly
12:00 under this administration.
12:02 I refer to my prior remarks.
12:04 There's been a half million of the illegal immigrants, a half million, with criminal
12:09 records that have come into the homeland, again, illegally.
12:12 It's no surprise that they commit crimes against Americans.
12:15 So this bill, which he seems to support, I'm a little confused at his language.
12:21 It seems like he might support this unanimous consent effort here because it's important
12:26 because the current law does not cover all assaults against law enforcement.
12:30 Deporting an illegal alien who assaults a law enforcement officer likely requires a
12:35 complex legal analysis to prove that the illegal alien committed an aggravated felony or crime
12:41 involving moral turpitude.
12:43 It's not guaranteed that this process will even lead to deportation.
12:47 So the Police Act creates a simple, straightforward, common sense rule that says illegal aliens
12:55 who assault cops are deportable, period.
12:57 End of story.
12:59 We saw it in North Carolina.
13:01 We've recently seen it in New York City.
13:03 And it could happen in a community near you.
13:07 I yield the floor.