Speech #1090173495

And it is unfair and probably unconstitutional to blame this House for not rolling over and playing dead over the fact that the Senate bill violates article I. section 7 of the Constitution of the United States. Having said that. lets get down to the nub of this bill. The nub of this bill specifically authorizes voluntary agreements between the Federal Government and local law enforcement to help in the assistance and enforcement of our immigration laws. Let me say again what we are dealing with is voluntary. No local government agency or local law enforcement agency is forced to do anything under this piece of legislation in helping the Federal Government enforce our immigration laws. But if they do do it. they should have statutory authorization. And where are the benefits going to be if there is cooperation between the Federal Government and State and local law enforcement in helping enforce our immigration laws? It is going to be in the immigrant communities themselves. Because most of the crimes that are committed by illegal immigrants in our country are against other immigrants. both legal and illegal. As a result of the current system. which this bill hopes to encourage to change. we will be able to make those immigrant communities safer. Now. the bill specifically states that nothing in it may be construed to require State or local law enforcement personnel to report the identity of a victim or a witness to a criminal offense to the Department of Homeland Security. So if one of the bad guys hits an illegal immigrant over the head. the local law enforcement that investigates this does not have to report to DHS the fact that the victim is an illegal immigrant. and nor does that illegal immigrant victim have to be arrested because that person is a victim or a witness. and the arrest would be for an immigration law violation. State and local law enforcement are not going to be reporting victims of crime. And they know best how to integrate immigration law enforcement into their duties in a way that will increase the safety and wellbeing of immigrant communities. Now. many immigrant communities are held hostage by violent alien gangs. Many of those gang members have already been deported for criminal activity and have returned to this country illegally. If State and local law enforcement officers identify such aliens. they can either turn a blind eye or wait until the aliens commit new crimes. or they can apprehend the gang members and turn them over to the Department of Homeland Security to get them out of this country. Clearly. immigration communities will be safer if those vicious criminals are taken off the streets before they can kill or rob again. And what other circumstances are State and local law enforcement likely to report to DHS? As an example. they may report on illegal aliens they come across in the normal course of carrying out their duties. such as after stopping for speeding a smuggling van carrying illegal Immigrants. Mr. Speaker. this is a good bill. It helps leverage the assets that we have. I am for increasing the number of ICE agents and Border Patrol agents and increasing the number of detention beds. but passing this bill is something that we can do now to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement in dealing with these issues. Mr. Speaker. I will repeat once again that the communities that will be safer will be the immigrant communities. both the legal immigrants that are present there as well as those that are not legal. Pass the bill.