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Floor Speech
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Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, under President Biden, nearly 10 million illegal immigrants have entered our country. Now, among those 10 million are an unknown number of dangerous individuals.
We know that hundreds of individuals appear on the Terrorism Watchlist. We know that a significant number of transnational cartel members are in this population. Other categories include drug smugglers, human traffickers, and many more.
It is a laundry list of bad actors who have no business stepping foot in our country. And, sadly, it is not a surprise, when we allow over half a million illegal immigrants with criminal records into the homeland, that they commit crimes against American citizens.
Even members of law enforcement--the very people entrusted with keeping us safe--are now on the frontlines of the border crisis. And, no, I am not talking about police in border States like Texas or Arizona; I am talking about North Carolina--my State. I am talking about New York City.
Two years ago, in my home State of North Carolina, Wake County Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd was killed in the line of duty by an illegal alien gang member who crossed the border under President Biden. And just this week, in Queens, NY, NYPD officers were shot while trying to apprehend a suspect in a string of robberies. One was shot in the stomach, and the other was shot in the leg.
Now, thankfully, they are going to survive. Our prayers are with them and their families, and we are grateful for their service to our country. But the suspect was identified as a 19-year-old from Venezuela who crossed the border illegally through Eagle Pass, TX, in July of last year. Worse yet, he was caught, and then he was released with a court date that he, predictably, ignored.
So enough is enough. I am back here on the Senate floor to, once again, try and pass a bill called the POLICE Act. It is a straightforward bill. The POLICE Act simply states that an alien can be deported for assaulting a police officer, a firefighter, or another first responder. This bill has already passed the House, and it can be sent to the President's desk by passing it right here today. Pretty simple.
But now the last time I tried to pass this bill, the Senator from Connecticut blocked it, and he called it nothing. That is 100 percent wrong. Specifically, the POLICE Act amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to explicitly state that an illegal immigrant may be deported for assaulting a police officer.
Now, it is important to point out that the current law does not cover all assaults against law enforcement. That means that some immigrants can remain in the country even after committing assaults against cops.
And we know that under the Biden administration, that is a very real possibility, unfortunately. But the truth is that we cannot trust this administration to do the right thing or enforce the law and to keep our communities safe. That is why we need to pass the POLICE Act today.
Any Senator who claims to ``back the blue'' should have no problem at all supporting this bill. So I sincerely hope that in the face of yet another attack on police officers, that we can pass this bill today.
2494 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, I appreciate my colleague's comments, and I believe them to be sincere. But let's not get lost in the swirl of eloquence here.
I believe my colleague once said that illegal immigrants are ``undocumented Americans''--a direct quote--and that they are ``the people we care about most''--another direct quote--but I would submit that if you illegally enter the United States and then beat up a police officer, you are most certainly not an American. And the only thing we should care about is that you are deported.
Now, he said these laws can lead to deportation, but it is not necessary that they do particularly under this administration.
I refer to my prior remarks: There have been a half million illegal immigrants--a half million--with criminal records that have come into the homeland, again, illegally. And it is no surprise that they can commit crimes against Americans.
So this bill, which he seems to support--I am a little confused at the language. It seems like he might support this unanimous consent effort here because it is important because the current law does not cover all assaults against law enforcement. Deporting an illegal alien who assaults a law enforcement officer requires a complex legal analysis to prove that the illegal alien committed an aggravated felony or crime involving moral turpitude.
It is not guaranteed that this process will even lead to deportation. So the POLICE Act creates a simple, straightforward, commonsense rule that says illegal aliens who assault cops are deportable--period, end of story.
We saw it in North Carolina. We have recently seen it in New York City. And it can happen in a community near you.
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