Speech #CREC-2017-06-29-pt1-PgH5333_t23

This draconian legislation would dramatically expand the penalties for illegal reentry into the United States, even for people who have committed minor and nonviolent offenses. Although most people who illegally reenter the country do so to reunite with their families or to flee violence or persecution, this bill considers them all dangerous criminals who deserve lengthy prison sentences. This bill is nothing less than fearmongering, based on the widely debunked myth that immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans when, in fact, we know it is just the opposite. Let me tell you about one of these supposed dangerous criminals who was mercifully released from ICE custody just yesterday, after 4 months in detention. In 1986, 17-year-old Carlos Cardona illegally entered the United States, having fled threats of violence in his native Colombia.