In the same week that a 13-year-old girl was raped by recently released illegal immigrants, Joe Biden unilaterally and illegally granted amnesty to more illegal immigrants. Republicans have no better issue, timing, or political opportunity to engage in a government funding fight. Why does House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refuse to draw a line on September 30 funding? And why is Trump giving him cover to sell us out?
Biden has flooded the border for more than three years. Heading into the election, he aims to temporarily relieve border pressure while focusing on securing the permanent residency of millions of illegal immigrants in the interior. Biden on Tuesday announced amnesty for an estimated 550,000 illegal immigrant spouses of legal residents. This was not his first amnesty effort. He has already extended “temporary protected status” indefinitely to 860,000 illegal immigrants.
It’s clear that any immigration plan that does not fully deputize the states is ineffective.
How can Republicans continue to fund the government after September 30 without defunding these programs and enabling states to ban and deport illegal immigrants? Some states, like Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Iowa, have already partially criminalized illegal presence. However, federal courts are blocking these laws.
There are only about 6,000 ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agents. Meanwhile, 7.4 million illegal immigrants are on ICE’s undetained docket, most of whom likely have criminal records in addition to immigration violations. Only 38,500 are currently in custody, meaning millions of invaders, including gang members and violent criminals, effectively have amnesty. Even if Trump wins the election and follows through on his promise of mass deportations, we cannot significantly improve enforcement and deterrence without states taking action on the ground.
If there is one issue worth having a budget fight over in Congress, it must be immigration enforcement. The key policy to demand in exchange for passing the budget is explicitly deputizing the states to enforce all aspects of federal immigration law.
As I’ve noted before, isn’t it precisely before the election when you’d want to have this fight? We are such a closely divided country, yet 62% of Americans want mass deportations, including majorities of nearly every demographic? Just consider the amount of intellectual ammo Republicans would be able to throw at the left if they held a press conference and announced, “No Border? No Budget” as an official policy for this coming fiscal year. Just think of the number of rape and murder cases they could pin on Biden’s policies during a government funding fight.
In just the past week, the Harford County, Maryland, sheriff announced the arrest of Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, 23, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant who “fled” to the United States after committing murder in his home country. Hernandez is charged with murdering Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five, in a quiet part of a rural trail 1,800 miles from the border. Hernandez breached the border in February 2023 and allegedly committed a home invasion and assault in California before crossing the country to Bel Air, Maryland.
This case demonstrates how illegal immigrants are free to commit crime in this country. It demonstrates how violent criminals are now fleeing justice in their own countries to commit crimes in our country. It demonstrates the worst nightmare of most Americans who want to remain safe — that there is nowhere to hide from criminal aliens. Unlike domestic crime, which is usually limited to urban areas, illegal immigrants are fanning out to every corner of the United States.
The child rape problem among illegal immigrants is real and rampant. Last week, the NYPD arrested Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, a 25-year-old Ecuadorian illegal immigrant, for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a Queens park. An immigration judge ordered his removal after the Biden administration released him in 2021, but he remained in the country. Millions with deportation orders are still at large, most with some form of criminal record, and we are needlessly bearing the cost of their recidivism.
Regarding undocumented criminals from foreign countries, thousands of illegal immigrants granted amnesty by Barack Obama received legal documents despite having criminal records. We were told that DACA recipients were the best and brightest among us — more American than our own children. Yet, according to USCIS data, nearly 68,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records were granted legal status, more than twice the number of applicants who were rejected based on a criminal record.
Among these “American-as-apple-pie” valedictorians-in-waiting were 7,926 theft arrests, 6,892 drug arrests, 4,210 DUI arrests, 3,421 battery arrests, 3,308 assault arrests, 1,956 vandalism arrests, and 1,471 burglary arrests. There were even hundreds of sexual offenses, 173 kidnappings, and 15 murders among those granted amnesty. Last week, in Indiana, authorities arrested five illegal immigrants for kidnapping a teenage girl. Kidnapping is one of the crime categories endemic to their countries of origin.
Republicans now have a wealth of stories and data to drive their message all summer, using it as leverage in a government funding fight. It’s clear that any immigration plan that does not fully deputize the states is ineffective. Illegal immigrants reside in the states and are likely to return even if deported.
If Republicans cannot or will not fight on this issue now, don’t believe for a minute they will do so next year. By then, it will be too late.