Speech #1090064582

I want to stress this. These individuals would indeed be trained. be lawful militia forces as the Constitution envisioned under the control of the Governor. working in cooperation with the Governor. State law enforcement. and the border patrol simply to protect our border and to prevent individuals from entering the United States illegally and to. when necessary. take those individuals into custody. State and local authorities would then be eligible for Federal funding. A Governor that invokes this authority. taking command of these lawful militia forces. the Border Protection Corps. would have access to this Federal money. Homeland Security money. which would then flow to that State. There is $6.8 billion in unspent homeland security money that has been there for over 2 years. unspent for local responders. There is no more important local response. or first response. than protecting our borders. So with this legislation that we have coauthored. if a Governor calls up. takes command of these forces. again. trains them. puts them under the control of local law enforcement. working with the border patrol. that $6.8 billion is then eligible to flow to pay for the cost of equipping. training. deploying these forces as well as building temporary housing. detention facilities. for these individuals until they would be turned over to Federal authorities. And those Federal authorities must then determine that they are not a violent criminal. a dangerous criminal. or a potential terrorist. If they are not. they will simply be returned to their country of origin from which they entered the United States.