Speech #1100051716

In September 1979. he was sentenced to a 20year prison term for auto theft and assault in Miami. FL. He was paroled within 6 years and released into Mexico as a result of deportation. Over the next 10 years. he was apprehended and tried in Texas for falsely claiming citizenship. He did an 18month prison term. He was arrested for possessing a concealed weapon in 1988 in New Orleans and received another 18month prison term. Every time he was sentenced. he was deported and came right back to commit another crime. He got 30 months for attempting to defraud Social Security in St. Louis. He pled guilty to burglary charges in New Mexico that gained him an 18month prison term. and he was paroled in 1992. He was apprehended in the Santa Fe rail yard for trespassing and carrying a firearm in 1995. On June 2. 1999. he was apprehended by the Border Patrol for crossing illegally. Due to a computer glitch. they let him go. Every time he committed a crime and served a sentence. he was deported. only to come right back and commit another crime. Once we caught him. all we did was deport him. He wound up killing two people within 48 hours of being released by the Border Patrol. If this amendment had been in place for people such as this guy. once he was found back on our soil after he served his prison term for a violent crime. he would not have been deported. He would have gotten a 20year jail sentence with a mandatory minimum of 5 years. So there are people who have been convicted of rape and murder within the United States who have illegally come across the border. committed a crime. served their time. been deported. who have come right back. committed another crime. and nothing happens. If this amendment becomes law. once you have been convicted of a violent crime and deported. if you are found in our country. whether you are committing a crime. that is a crime in and of itself. and you are going to go to jail for up to 20 years. with a minimum of 5 years. Now that. to me. is what has been missing when it comes to our legal system and illegal immigration. It is now time to tell the worldour own citizens and all those who wish to come herethere is a right way to do it and there is a wrong way to do it. If you do it the wrong way in the future. you are going to go to jail. We need to change the system that would allow nothing to happen to somebody who had been in our country illegally. who was convicted of rape or murder. who served their sentence and had been deported. who illegally comes back into our country. If they cross the border again. if they cross the border in the future. after committing a violent crime. they are going back to jail for serious jail time to protect us against them. Now. I hope every Member of the body will understand this will make our effort to reform illegal immigration meaningful. If America does not care about enforcing its laws in the future. those who want to violate it will not care either. So now is the time to start the clock over. learn from the mistakes of the past and make a national commitment to secure our borders and deal with those who violate our immigration law in the sternest fashion. Because this Nation is under siege. After 9/11. illegal immigration is not just about people coming here to work. it is about people coming here to commit crimes and do us harm. So I am very hopeful this amendment will become part of the bill. and we can say. after this bill passes. we have taken a new approach. a tough approach. a long overdue approach. that we do care about the laws on our books and we are going to enforce them. and if you violate the law in the future by illegally coming across our border. you are going to jail. Mr.