the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker, the brutal murder of laken riley was fore-ordained. the day that joe biden took office. and reversed the successful trump policies that had finally secured our borders. since that day, just four years ago, more than 7.8 million illegal aliens have been deliberately allowed into our country. the population the size of the state of washington, our 13th largest state. very little is done to vet these millions of illegal migrants. we don't know how many terrorists and violent criminals are among them. and worse, the democrats don't seem to care. we know that the number of terrorists we're apprehending has skyrocketed and that violent international crime cartels and violent foreign gangs are now operating freely in our

communities, often protected from deportation and detention by the democrats' sanctuary laws. one of these criminals has now been convicted of the brutal murder of laken riley. how many such monsters have the democrats deliberately allowed into our country we do not know. but we're slowly, painfully and tragically finding out victim by victim. in this case, the murderer was paroled into this country through a shocking abuse of this power by the biden administration. he was repeatedly arrested for theft and other crimes in sanctuary jurisdictions, and each time released back onto our streets. just months before laken riley's murder, this murderer was arrested for theft, but he was released and i.c.e. did not take him into custody because of a biden administration policy that shields many criminal aliens from arrest and deportation. sadly, this is exactly what

those who voted for joe biden in 2020 voted for. because this is exactly what the democrats promised to do. fortunately those who voted for donald trump in 2024 voted to stop this tragic travesty of our immigration laws, because that is what he has promised to do and will begin doing over the democrats' objections beginning at noon on january 20. during his first term, president trump proved that the president on his own authority can secure our borders. president biden proved that a president determined to undermine and make a mockery of our immigration laws can willfully open those borders to the most violent criminals and terrorists and gangs and cartels on this planet, and use the democrats' sanctuary laws to protect them. this national nightmare will end at noon on inauguration day. but what of future presidents?

the laken riley act would require i.c.e. detention for illegal aliens who were charged with, arrested for or convicted of any burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting offense. h.r. 29 further requires the department of homeland security to issue a detainer for those illegal aliens and take custody of them effectively and expeditiously. it would also allow states to bring a civil action against derelict federal officials who refused to enforce these laws. joe biden and alejandro mayorkas, i'm looking at you. this bill passed the republican house in march of last year. but senate democrats stopped it cold. i said at the time that today the name on the bill is laken riley. tomorrow it will be another victim of these policies, another son or daughter of a loved one. it won't stop until this administration is stopped and that can only be done by the american people. well, thank god the american

people have done exactly that. they've given this congress and this president the tools and the mandate to secure our borders and remove every person who has broken into our country by violating our laws. but without this law, a future democratic president could once again release dangerous illegal aliens back onto our streets to pray on our people -- prey on our people and destroy innocent young lives like laken riley. this bill will stop them. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. raskin: thank you. the biden administration brought us back from a devastating pandemic and the trump economic crisis by investing in american

workers, american manufacturing and american infrastructure. our policies for the working class majority, instead of the tiny billionaire class, pulled our economy back from the brink. today our nation's economic strength is, quote, the envy of the world. as the economist magazine put it, with an unemployment rate of 4.2%, wages rising across america, and the gross domestic product growing at a robust 3.1%. moreover, the murder rate is way down in america. unlawful immigration at the southern border is now below where it was when donald trump left office four years ago. and the roaring stock market, which is what trump and his billionaire entourage care about, just completed its strongest two years in a quarter century. now it's time to make sure all americans enjoy the benefits of this astonishing economic growth. we should be coming together

today to increase the minimum wage, to lift children out of poverty, and to strengthen unions, social security, medicare and the middle class. but donald trump is instead assembling a billionaire cabinet from the top .00003% of the wealthiest americans, drawing the top tier of his new administration from poolside cocktail hour at mar-a-lago, and setting up the plutocrats to plunger an even larger share of government contracts and public resources. trump campaigned on the seductive promise of bringing down the high post-covid-19 prices for rent, groceries, consumer goods and health care. but now he's preparing to give power over the economy to his team of globe trotting dictator-dealing c.e.o.'s and billionaires, the very people responsible for exploiting the

pandemic to increase prices in the first place. i doubt that billionaire oligarchs have any interest in bringing down the cost of living for the working middle class in america. but if they do, democrats stand ready to work with them. after all, we're the ones who dramatically lowered prescription drug prices in medicare, capping out-of-pocket monthly expenses at $35 a month. i had constituents who were paying $500 a month for insulin as diabetics before that, and it's capped now at $35 a month. and we capped annual total out-of-pocket expenditures for prescription drugs at $2,000 a year. it was the maga republicans, deep in the pocket of big pharma, who categorically opposed us every step of the way on lowering prescription drug prices in medicare. but now if our colleagues have good policy proposals for continuing to lower prices as we've done, which is what they

campaigned on, by all means, bring the proposals forward. let's see them. democrats have repeatedly crossed the aisle to hammer out bipartisan compromise. last year president biden and senate democrats worked with the ultraconservative republican senator james lankford to arrive at a tough, bipartisan border security deal. but president trump aggressively tanked the deal, openly expressing his preference for railing against a border crisis rather than actually developing a border solution. now today the republicans are on the floor, not with their long-awaited but entirely missing policy solutions to the problems of inflation or immigration, instead their bill today is an empty and opportunistic measure. it's not like the compromise they tanked in the last congress, a bill for greater border security or for better technology in the ports of entry or for expanding legal pathways

to immigration and citizenship for millions of people, or for addressing huge immigrant visa backlogs. no. this bill would upend 28 years of mandatory immigration detention policies by requiring that any undocumented immigrant arrested for theft, larceny or shoplifting be detained, even if they are never convicted or even charged with a crime. this is a radical departure from current law which since 1996 has generally required mandatory detention only for persons who are criminally convicted or who admit to having committed certain serious crimes. that is, when criminal guilt is certain. and established beyond a reasonable doubt. under this bill, a person who has lived in the united states for decades, say for most of her life, paid taxes and bought a home, but who is mistakenly

arrested for shoplifting would not be free to resume her life, but rather would be detained and deported, even if the chargers are dropped and even -- charges are dropped and even if the police admit the arrest was mistaken. consider a young dreamer or t.p.s. recipient who is with a group of friends after school and a friend shoplifts. to scare the whole group straight, everyone's arrested. when they were involved in theship -- whether they were involved in the shotlifting or not. the charges are dropped. for most of the kids, it's a humiliating afternoon and a valuable life lesson. but for one of them, a young person who has been in america lawfully for years with his or her family, the consequences would be devastating under this legislation. mandatory detention mandatory detention and deportation from the country just for having been arrested even if never charged. it seems to me passing strange mr. speaker that our friends are

taking this position when they do not even believe the criminal justice system can be trusted, when a jury unanimously convicts someone who's had the best legal representation money can buy in the state of new york, on 34 different felony criminal counts after an extended criminal trial with all due process protections, including cross-examination and the right to counsel being afforded. if the criminal justice process cannot be trusted to identify a truly guilty person even when that person has been arrested, charged, indicted, prosecuted, represented at every stage, given an opportunity to cross-examine all witnesses and testify personally, and then is unanimously convicted by a jury of his peers beyond a reasonable doubt, how can the criminal justice process be trusted to identify a truly guilty person, just with an arrest? and no indictment, no

prosecution, no cross-examination, no neutral adjudication by an impartial judge, no fact-finding, and no criminal conviction by a 1 12-person jury beyond a reasonable doubt. mandatory dekes has always been reserved for people who are convicted of crimes. and actually commit crimes. expanding the detention requirement to include every person who has merely been accused of or arrested for even if not charged for shoplifting, for example, collapses the distinction between actual conviction on serious events versus simply charged with or arrested for something very minor, even if the charges don't even lead anywhere. congress has never even crepted sufficient resources to detain all noncitizens who do fall under the currently serious mandatory detention categories. even president trump during his first term never tried to detain all migrants theoretically

subject to mandatory detention. so this extremely elastic new provision adds nothing to the equation other than more in the rhetoric and greater bureaucratic bloat. the bill also seeks to give state governments authority and control over the federal immigration system. by trespassing on the article 2 executive power in a way that eight out of nine justices -- justices on the supreme court completely repudiated two years ago as a blatant violation of the separation of powers. the bill seeks to give state attorneys general precisely what the supreme court has denied, constitutional standing to sue the federal government in court for perceived violations of sexes -- sections of the immigration and nationality act so states can block federal immigration policies. capsizing the supremacy clause and expanding judicial power to

encroach upon executive correction under article 2. in june of 2023, the supreme court in the united states vs. texas emphatically rejected the alleged standing of states to sue the federal government to alter the government's immigration arrest policies. this bill attempts a legislative bypass of this constitutional decision in u.s. versus texas written by justice kavanaugh and joined by eight of nine justices on the court. in rejecting the state standing argument, the court observed among other things that lawsuits alleging insufficient arrests or prosecution run against the executive branch's exclusive article 2 authority to enforce immigration law. which includes the discretion to determine enforcement priorities in the face of a chronic lack of resources and shifting public safety, public welfare, and foreign policy needs and priorities. if this bill were to become law, both provisions would have the

perverse effect of undermining the federal government's efforts to prioritize the detention and the deportation of the truly most dangerous convicted felons. with the vastly expanded new statutory scope and new short for states to get legal standing on steroids, the government can be sued by a state for not detaining everyone charged with or even arrested for the pettiest of crimes like shoplifting. this bill tries to give state standing to sue for harms as small as $100, dramatically shifting power from the executive branch to the courts and federal government to the states. both in ways considered completely dubious by the supreme court. like many of the immigration related bills, the g.o.p. is now advancing, this one seems toe follow a simple strategy. pick a crime, paste into it a template immigration law covering convicted criminals, and then require detention or

deportation of certain persons merely accused of committing the crime or arrested for committing the crime. no due process required at all. this allows us to get up and demonize immigrants without doing anything to fix the immigration system, and to act tough without actually making america safer for solving any of the problems within the immigration laws. we should be working together on comprehensive meaningful reform. my colleague from california invites us to believe that the only crimes committed by undocumented aliens are those who entered during the biden administration. well, in fact, if you look at it, hundreds of thousands, 500,000 across the u.s.-mexico border in the first trump administration. and over 1.1 million people who crossed during the first four years of his administration were eventually released from

custody. one of the people released from custody an undocumented alien is charged with murdering 19-year-old adam luker, from alabama. why don't we have a bill named after adam lukeer? is it because of the inconvenient fact that the undocumented alien who killed him came in under donald trump? i would hate to think so. but we can find lots of cases like that. that's not what we should be doing here in congress. we should be seriously confronting the problems in a serious way together. rather than just trying to make partisan hey -- hay out of other people's triagenies their lives. mr. speaker, this legislation does not move the ball forward on any of the problems facing america. and they are being moved under closed rules without a hearing, without any legislative scrutiny. this means that no member, no only just democrats but republicans, too, no member can

offer any amendments to repair the gaping flaws and gaps in these slapdash political bills. i would urge our colleagues to take a much more serious approach here. the murder of laken riley was an unspeakable and appalling crime. a heinous act. and no parent, no family should ever have to bear such a calamity. we must take clear steps to make sure that people who commit crimes like this are punished to the full extent of the law. and i trust that my friends agree that those who commit horrific violent crimes like these must be prosecuted to the fullest extense of the law. but this bill fails to take any meaningful action to improve our broken immigration system and to prevent crimes like this from occurring again, whether the undocumented aliens entered under a democratic administration as they have, or

republican administration as they have. we are asked to vote on a bill that fails to address any of the real issues at stake and we are foreclosed from offering any amendments to improve this sloppy and political product. i urge all colleagues to oppose this legislation. i reserve the balance of my t time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland reserves. members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president-elect. the gentleman from california is recognized. >> i want to you listen to what my friend just said. we shouldn't be placing illegals in intention simply for being charged with a crime. besides shoplifting is no big deal. mr. mcclintock: listen to what he's suggesting. currents law requires the detention of every illegal alien who crosses our border. every one. the democrats have studiously ignored this law and now they are saying ignore this law even if the illegal has now been

charged with committing other crimes as well. let them back on to the streets as they did with laken riley's murder. if a few innocent teens happen to get raped and murdered along the way, well, too bad. the democrats have told us for four years that their refusal to enforce our immigration laws is because they are prioritizing more dangerous offenders. that is precisely what this bill does t prioritizes dangerous offenders and yet the democrats are still opposing it. i'm now pleased to yield five minutes to the author of this measure, mr. mike collins of georgia. mr. collins represents laken riley's hometown and her grieving family in this house. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. collins: thank you. i thank my colleague for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today to encourage my colleagues to support the laken riley act. mr. speaker, i think it's important that we record into history exactly what happened to this young lady.

young lady didn't have a care in the world. she was just out for a jog, enjoying the day, when an illegal criminal took her life away. he didn't even have any remorse. never hesitated. this legislation could have prevented her death. her murder was in our country -- murderer was in our country illegally. known criminal. abused a child in new york sity, flown to athens, georgia, a sanctuary city, all of this on the taxpayers' dime where he was cited for shoplifting. every part of our system failed laken that day. there's nothing -- there's nothing we can do to bring her back. i tell you what. we make sure this never happens again because right now i.c.e. is unable to detain and deport these illegal criminals who commit these minor level crimes. but the laken riley act will fix this and give i.c.e. and our local law enforcement the tools to get these criminals out of

our country and make our communities safer. we need to get these people off the streets. these criminals are getting bolder and bolder while our communities become more and more unsafe. this is because our lax policies they gave her murderer the courage to kill laken riley. we got to make sure this doesn't ever happen again. mr. speaker, he bashed her head in with a rock. this is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. people need to know what this animal did to her. i'm going to tell you what, they also need to know how she fought back. laken fought back with every ounce in her body. when i spoke to the family about this bill last year, i told them i'd never let it go. i will fight with every ounce that i have to make sure that no family has to suffer the loss like they have to these illegal

criminals. mr. speaker, it's a sad day in america. it's a sad day when we allow these thug criminals to invade our homes, our country, and impose their violence and their will on the american people. we got the opportunity today, you all, we got the opportunity to fix this. and i encourage all my colleagues to join me in voting yes. i want to leave you with an excerpt from a statement from the laken riley family. the laken riley act has our full support because it would help save innocent lives and prevent more families from going through the kind of heartbreak we have experienced. laken would have been 23 on january 10. there is no greater gift that could be given to her or our country than to continue her legacy by saving lives through this bill. every single member of congress

should be able to get behind this purely commonsense bill that will make our country and communities safer. mr. speaker, god help us. god help us. i yield back. mr. mcclintock: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: i yield three minutes to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. nadler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 29. i want to start by expressing my deepest condolences to laken riley's family. her death was a tragedy and we all mourn her loss. may her memory be a blessing. i wish that we were considering legislation that was worthy of her name. instead, the republican majority's beginning this new congress right where they left off in the last one. with legislation that targets and scapegoats immigrants but does nothing to address the real problems in our broken

immigration system. all while ignoring baseball due process and constitutional principles. among other things, this legislation would subject to mandatory detention any undocumented immigrants who are merely charged with committing an act of theft or shoplifting, even if they are innocent. this means that someone who is merely accused of shoplifting, someone who might be innocent, who might be the victim of mistaken identity, and has not had the opportunity to clear his name would be subject to mandatory detention. ..this bill is so broad it would lead to the intention. this flies in the face of all notions of process and due reason. where will the federal government get the resources to detain all these people? congress has never appropriated and no administration has ever requested sufficient resources to detain all noncitizens who fall under the mandatory detention categories.

even president trump during his first term never tried to detain all migrants subject to mandatory detention. it was far too costly, even for him. and because this bill is so sweeping, even dreamers and people living here on temporary protected status, people who may have lived here in this country for decades, since shortly after their birth, could be subject to the bill's harsh provisions. if that weren't bad enough, the bill also declares that states have standing to sue over certain immigration provisions, slo long as -- so long as the state or its residents suffer even the most trivial financial harm. this appears to be a ham-handed attempt to circumvent recent supreme court rulings limiting states' standing to sue the federal government over immigration enforcement matters. but merely declaring that the states have standing to sue does not make it so. and this provision is almost certainly unconstitutional. unfortunately the lack of attention that republicans pay to such matters perfectly sums

up their entire approach to immigration. instead of working towards serious solutions to serious problems, they are content to simply play politics and consider it a job well done. i urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. raskin: we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california is now recognized. mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to mr. andy biggs of arizona, who has done work on our subcommittee on this issue. mr. biggs: thank you. i thank mr. mcclintock for yielding. again, our hearts go out to the laken riley family. we think about them, this bill is named for laken riley, but it has an impact far greater. but once again we must acknowledge that we can no longer take the fayned empty words -- fained empty -- feigned empty words of sympathy because they refuse to do anything meaningful to stop the carnage or even slow down the border surge that's been going on.

illegal aliens who commit crimes must not be released into our communities. our colleagues can't even use the term of art that's in the statute. illegal alien. they can't even use that. they conflait legal immigration with -- conflate legal immigration with those who enter our country illegally. they call them undocumented immigrants. that's what they do. they don't ever stand up for the american people. and instead of taking the mandate of an overwhelming popular vote victory, and electoral college victory by this coming in president, donald trump, on the issue of border security, they'd let it. go they'd ignore it. in fact, places like san diego, you know what san diego just did? they declared themselves a supersanctuary city. nobody is going to be held for

i.c.e. so you get to explain to the victim of nicholas jose francisco, a 25-year-old illegal alien from guatemala charged with molesting and raping a 5-year-old little girl. in new york city there's more than 58,000 illegal aliens with a criminal record who have been charged with a crime on their streets. or you get to explain and apologize to the victim of the 31-year-old illegal alien from mexico who was recently arrested for breaking into a woman's home and raping her. this goes on and on because my colleagues don't want to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. biggs: hold these people in detention. mr. mcclintock: i yield an additional minute. mr. biggs: you get to explain to the victim of the 28-year-old illegal alien who tortured and burglarized a dallas woman just a month or two ago. yeah. so you can stand up and say,

we're not br bringing meaningful legislation. you can stand up and say that you feel real bad for laken riley and her family. and how about all the other victims of illegal aliens who have committed crimes? but you know the first thing they did that was illegal, they entered our country. you want to protect them. we want the law enforced. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. mr. mcclintock: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: thank you, mr. speaker. in fact, the democrats got behind a bipartisan border security bill which beefed up law enforcement at the border, which beefed up judges at the border and that was tanked by donald trump and by the republicans in the house. they are the ones, mr. speaker, who refuse to engage in meaningful legislation -- legislative work to get the job done here. we won't be lectured by our colleague that we don't stand up for the american people. the author of this legislation

actually yesterday sent out a tweet, social media statement, characterizing the january 6 violent assault on this chamber, where 140 officers were wounded, injured and hospitalized by a rampaging mob this way. on this day in history, 2021, said the gentleman, thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in washington, d.c., to take a self-guided albeit unauthorized tour of the u.s. capitol building. i like that touch. albeit unauthorized. earlier that day president trump held a rally where supporters walked to the capitol to peacefully protest the certification of the 2020 election. during this time some individuals entered the capitol, took photos and explored the building before leaving. isn't that sweet? we see exactly how much faith and confidence they really have

in the american criminal justice system and how much they really stand on the side of law enforcement. yeah, it was just a leaserly stroll by a bunch of peaceful grandmothers on january 6. and these are the people that now are inviting us to dramatically change the immigration laws without even a hearing as to what it's going to mean in any particular case. i yield five minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from washington, ms. jayapal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jayapal: thank you, mr. speaker. laken riley was by all accounts a remarkable young woman whose life was tragically cut short by a horrific act that should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. my heart goes out to her family and loved ones who grieve her death. and i understand as a mother myself fully why in the face of such senseless violence, especially against someone so young, there is an urge to do something.

anything to feel like you are actually helping to fix the problem. unfortunately this bill does nothing to fix the immigration system or to prevent future tragedies like this. it is simply an attempt to score cheap political points off of a tragic death and in the process it unfairly sweeps up many more innocent lives with no due process. so let us be clear. this is the republican playbook over and over again. scare people about immigrants, never propose anything that actually solves an outdated and arcane immigration system, that desperately needs congress to allocate resources and update legal pathways to make the immigration system work for everyone. my republican colleagues simply want to preserve a broken immigration system as a campaign issue so that they can scapegoat

and demonize immigrants, all to distract the american people from their real goals of making working people pay for another republican tax scam that benefits billionaires and the wealthiest. just look at the rules package that they just passed. out of the 12 bills included in that, not a single one does anything to secure the border, to fix the broken immigration system, to lower costs for working people, to address the housing crisis, tackle the extraordinary levels of income inequality in this country, or tamp down on inflation. those were the promises of the trump campaign, but not a single one of those things is actually included in the first bills that they are bringing to the floor without hearings. so let's talk about what this bill actually does. this bill goes far beyond subjecting those who are convicted to or admit to committing a theft offense to

mandatory detention. what this bill actually does is subject any, any undocumented immigrant to mandatory detention for merely being arrested or charged with committing an act of theft, larceny or shoplifting, along with those who are convicted or who admit to committing such acts. so under this bill a daca or a t.p.s. recipient could be subjected to mandatory detention for crimes that are extremely low level or for something that's not even a crime. without even having had a fair day in court. without a conviction. so let's be clear. we are talking about people who have been in this country for decades. many of us in congress, our parents -- are parents, imagine your child is with a group of kids, grabbing an after-school snack at a 7-eleven and one of them chooses to just snitch a little candy bar off the shelf. the shop owner calls the police

and all the kids are arrested for shoplifting. if your child is a daca recipient, someone who has lived here nearly their entire life, they are now subject to mandatory detention under this bill. unfortunately there are countless real-life examples of people getting wrongfully arrested for crimes that they didn't commit. in 2019 a man in new jersey was arrested for shoplifting and trying to hit a police officer with a car because facial recognition software falsely identified him as the perpetrator. he spent 10 days in jail, even though he was actually 30 miles away from where the crime was committed. if he had been a daca or a t.p.s. recipient and this bill had been enacted, he would be subject to mandatory immigration detention, even though he was innocent of the crime of which he was accused. people deserve to have their day

in court and are innocent until proven guilty. that seems to be something that the majority has forgotten or doesn't seem to care about unless the alleged criminal is the president-elect. the upcoming administration is poised to bring back their no-priority immigration enforcement priority guidelines, in which a convicted murderer would be the same priority for deportation as an undocumented mom who has been living in this country for 20 years. imagine, mr. speaker, how much money a sweeping mandatory detention proposal like this will cost the federal government at a time -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. mr. raskin: i yield the gentlelady 30 seconds additional. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mr. raskin: actually, i yield her one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jayapal: manage how much money a sweeping proposal -- imagine how much money a sweeping proposal like this will cost the federal government when

the republicans are talking about cutting budgets. but not this one. why? because this is a great boone to those for-profit detention companies who make enormous profits from mandatory detention, when there are far more effective and cheaper ways to address the issue. and who pays for all of this? the taxpayers. even in a republican trifecta, i.c.e. has limited resources to detain and remove folks. but in this bill, like president trump's enforcement priorities, we seek to use those resources on people who committed low-level crimes or even no crime at all. that makes no one safer and costs a lot of money. finally, this bill also bizarrely attempts to give state attorneys generals the authority to try and stop administrations from carrying out important policy priorities by giving them standing to sue in federal court under various sections of the immigration and nationality act. that entire section of the bill, likely unconstitutional. so i urge my colleagues to vote no on this overly broad, deepfully flawed legislation and yield -- deeply flawed

legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman reserves. again, members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president-elect. the gentleman from california is now recognized. mr. mcclintock: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm now pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. van orden. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mr. van orden: thank you. this bill is going to go a long way to reverse the lawlessness of the biden administration. i'd like to tell you a story for a moment. a criminal illegal alien entered the country with known gang tattoos and was allowed through biden's porous border. he made his way to the state of wisconsin where he had warrants issued in dane county for strangulation, suffocation, false imprisonment, battery and disorderly conduct. he was not detained and deported as he should have been because dane county is a sanctuary county. he then made his way to minneapolis, minnesota, where he was arrested for simple property crimes. he was not detained and deported

as he should have been as a criminal illegal alien because minneapolis is a sanctuary city. then he made his way to a small 5,6 -- a small town of 5,600 people, my hometown, where he brutally rape administer and savagely beat her daughter over a period of days and was finally arrested for domestic battery, strangelation, suffocation -- strangulation, suffocation, physical abuse to a child, disorderly conduct and two counts of second degree sexual assault. none of this needed to happen if the law was adhered to. none of this would have taken place if this person was detained and deported for a simple property crime. enough. it is the federal government's primary responsibility to protect its citizens and you, sir, and my democrat colleagues are refusing to do this and it is shameful. it is time to protect our american citizens against criminal illegal aliens and i ask my colleagues on both sides

of the aisle to strongly support this bill. and with that i yield back. ... the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. mcclintock: i reserve. thank you, madam speaker. i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. harris. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. harris: madam speaker, i rise today in strong support of h.r. 29, the laken riley act. for the past four years the american people have suffered under the biden administration's disastrous open border policies that have allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood our communities. one of those illegal aliens was jose. in 2023, he was caught shoplifting.

despite multiple arrests on his record, in addition to his illegal status, he was released under the biden administration. months later, as we all know, he murdered 22-year-old nursing student laken riley. there is just no other way to put it. her death is a direct result of president biden's deliberate refusal to enforce our laws. it is a federal government's job to defend our borders and protect our citizens. and our government has failed us. fortunately, a new leader is taking office soon. this past november americans demonstrated they are fed up with the left's refusal to secure our border. i'm proud to be a part of a republican majority that will work with the new administration to strengthen our laws to ensure the safety of the every american -- safety of every american. i'm confident the trump administration will secure our border, and, yes, empower i.c.e.

to do its job. we must not allow our security to depend on whether or not a republican occupies the white house. we, in this congress, must ensure there are no future laken rileys. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. mcclintock: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. clyde. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. mr. clyde: thank you, madam chair. i rise today in strong support of h.r. 29, the lakein riley act. this bill is in remembrance of laken riley, the 22-year-old nursing student who was tragically murdered last year in my home community of athen,

georgia. by an illegal alien from venezuela who should have never even been in our country. after illegally crossing the southern boarder in 2022, laken's murderer was released to the biden administration's weaponization of the parole program. the following year he was arrested by the nypd for acting in a manner to injure a minor and committing a motorcycle license violation. according to an athens clark county police report, this illegal alien went on to shoplift in georgia just weeks after his encounter with law enforcement in new york. clearly this illegal alien had a pattern of criminal history. one that started when he accepted joe biden's invitation to illegally enter our country. he should never have been allowed to reside in the united states illegally and i.c.e. should have immediately issued a detainer after he committed these crimes. ultimately if i.c.e. had been aware and issued a detainer, this criminal illegal alien would not have even been in the

united states to commit the horrific murder of laken riley. we must enact changes now to protect our communities across the country from facing additional avoidable tragedies. thankfully h.r. 29 provides a commonsense solution to do just that. this legislation requires i.c.e. to issue detainers and take custody of illegal aliens who commit crimes like theft, burglary, and larceny. but the local jurisdiction, the athens clark county unified government, was a sanctuary city. that's another problem. that's a big problem. the sanctuary policy hampers, it hampers the athens clark county police department and the clark county sheriff's office from recognizing and acting upon an i.c.e. detainer which could have prevented laken's murder. time and time again communities and families throughout our nation have been devastated by heinous crimes committed by illegal aliens. in fact, this past october the peach state faced another

unspeakable tragedy. in my home district ms. mimi rodriguez was brutally murdered by an illegal alien from mexico. she was just 25 and left behind a young daughter and loving family. the citizens of clark county and had beener sham county are hundreds of miles from any border but are still being brutally victimized by illegal aliens. enough is enough. these preventable tragedies must come to an end. as a co-sponsor of this critical legislation, i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the laken riley act. after all one of the most formidable ways congress can deliver justice for laken riley, for mimi ramirez, is passing this legislation to prevent additional tragedy from victimizing the law-abiding citizens of our nation. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california is

recognized. mr. mcclintock: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. van drew. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. van drew: . i wanted to address one thing before we start. it was mentioned again about the bipartisan bill. the bipartisan bill was a bad bill. it didn't stop catch and release. it didn't expedite immediately to the country of origin. it didn't rebuild the wall. it didn't have a stay in mexico policy is. it was words. it wasn't actions. it wasn't good. that's why people didn't vote for it. that's why it wasn't successful. speaking about words, though, when i came here today i thought about a lot of words. i hear a lot of words, a lot of debate, a lot of discussion. but i got to tell you to the family of laken riley and to so many others across the united states of america, words don't

matter. condolences don't count. speeches don't do it. words will never replace her life. in life sometimes we have all gone through tragedies and so often we say, my god, why did this happen? why did this car accident happen. why did this person get cancer? whatever it is. this is different. we know why it happened. it happened because of the administration allowing illegals, some of whom, not all of whom, but some of whom were criminals, into our country feeding them clothing and transporting them, housing them. paying for. men and women breaking their back in this country to make a living, but we are paying for it. we know how it happened. we know how it happened to the new york city woman who was put on fire. we know how it happened to state trooper christopher gadd in washington state when he died because of illegal alien. we know how it happened, elizabeth medina, from the great

state of texas, 16 years old and her life was snuffed out. that's never ok. and laken riley, fighting for her life. you hear about her last 20 minutes on this earth. she fought and she fought with everything she had. she didn't want to be raped. she didn't want to be brutalized. so this -- i don't want a curse here. this individual may -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. van drew: this individual then took a rock and bashed her head in until it's unrecognizable. you know what, condolences aren't going to do it. i say it to my friend on the other side of the aisle. the ranking member. feeling bad, feeling sorry is is not going to do it. it doesn't make the difference. all of us here, most of us, have been mothers, fathers, brothers,

sisters, you can't imagine how her family feels. people say i know how you feel. no, i don't know. i don't know. you don't know. but there is something we could do. all this bill is detain people who have -- who have done something wrong, who have broken the law already, and have the potential to do even worse. all of these cases that i mentioned, and many more, would not have occurred if it we had this law in place. don't give the condolences. vote for the bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: thank you, madam speaker. i'm moved by the words of the gentleman from new jersey who said, don't give us words. words don't matter. speeches don't cut it. speeches don't do it. and it sounds like an absolute echo of what you hear from our colleagues whenever there's an explosion ever gun violence in

in any of our communities. we hear thoughts and prayers, lots of words, but no action. the fact that there is sympathy or condolences, i agree with the gentleman. that's not enough. we need real public policy changes that will be effective and that will be constitutional. and that's what the discussion is about today. will these policy changes, in fact, be effective? will they be constitutional or not? but i agree we should move from the situation of identifying and empathizing with people who suffered terrible family tragedies and private tragedies to effective public policy. that's our job as legislators. i will reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. mcclintock: madam speaker, perhaps we should take all of the criminals off the streets. starting with those who shouldn't have been in our country in the first place, which is what this bill does. i'm now pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. cline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is

recognized for three minutes. mr. cline: thank you, madam speaker. i support this important legislation which would take concrete policy steps toward addressing the problem created by this administration of open borders. and we listened to the gentlelady from washington on the other side talk about the cost of implementing the legislation. that requires a certain amount of hubris to claim -- to be worried about the cost of implementing a piece of legislation when the costs of open borders that have been created by this administration and embraced by the other side are clearly evident. i have been to the border. we have seen the impact that open borders have had on the educational systems, the transportation systems, the housing systems, the agriculture systems. all across this country our nation is a nation of border communities now because we are all being impacted by these open borders. back in 2022, laken riley's

horrific murder shocked the nation. but also shocking was the fact that her murder was preventable. it was preventable by enforcing the laws of this country after his arrest for crossing the border illegally in 202t he was paroled into the united states months before murdering laken riley, he was arrested for theft. local authorities in georgia released him and i.c.e. didn't lodge a detarian. unfortunately these two actions directly contributed to the murder of laken riley. this legislation that bears her name would retire i.c.e. to arrest illegal aliens to ho commit offenses and they are detained until they are removed from the country. it further requires the department of homeland security issues a retainer and take custody of them effectively and expeditiously. while we anxiously await president trump's inauguration and know his administration will follow and enforce immigration law and take steps to advance the enforcement of our botheredders, the laken riley act ensures all administrations are hell accountable, including

the previous one, and that our immigration laws are followed. i support this important legislation. i thank the gentleman from for his leadership on the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mcclintock: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the chairman of the republican study committee, mr. pfluger of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. pfluger: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in strong support, full support of h.r. 29, the laken riley act. it's long overdue that we actually order seriously. that we enforce the laws that are on the books. laken riley's not an isolated incident, unfortunately. jocelyn from texas, rachel, and many others. these were innocent women horrifically killed by illegal aliens. their families are going to be mourning their loss of life for the rest of their lives. violent criminals like the one

who is committed this heinous act and others continue to pore over our border daily. which is why we desperately need to pass this act today. this legislation will protect american communities by requiring immigration and custom enforcement to issue detainers, mandatory detention for those who are here illegally who also commit theft. .. it's pretty simple and should be nothing controversial about that. i'm interested to see my colleagues that voted against this, madam speaker, going back to their districts, and they tell them, i don't stand for law and order because i don't want illegal aliens here committing rape or murder or any other offense to be detained. how can you go back to a district and say that? in texas, good news with the laken riley act, that you now have standing to sue the federal government when they don't do

this, when they don't enforce the laws on the book. you have standing to sue the federal government for failing to uphold the laws on our books. my heart goes out to laken riley's family. my heart goes out to other people who have had to watch as this administration has stood by and done nothing to protect our country, our communities, and the sanctity of the safety that we as americans should always have. let's go home and let's be proud in a bipartisan way that we're willing to uphold the law. and i stand in full support of the laken riley act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. raskin: thank you. in answer to the distinguished gentleman, he stated precisely what the law is now. he said, how can we go back to our districts and not defend the immediate deporting of people who have committed theft?

that's what the law is. they want to change the law to go from someone who actually committed theft or been convicted of theft to people that's been charged with it, even if the charges have been dropped or arrested for it, even if charges were never brought in the first place. i think the misstatement of the meaning of this legislation speaks very deeply to what an opportunistic exercise this really is. what the gentleman was asking for is the law today. we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. mcclintock: i would remind my friend the law also requires every illegal alien to be detained until their case is adjudicated. this bill simply -- which is what the democrats have ignored the last few years. this bill says if on top of that an illegal is charged with a crime, they need to be detained and taken off the streets. the murderer of laken riley was charged but not convicted.

had he been treated as the detainer law requires, he would have been deported and laken riley would be alive today. i'm prepared to close when the gentleman is ready. mr. raskin: we have no further speakers and am prepared to close, too. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. raskin: how much time do i have, madam speaker? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has three and and a quarter minutes remaining. mr. raskin: thank you kindly. thank you to the distinguished gentleman from california for this debate. i must say that the legislation before us and the approach that it embodies reflect a profound disrespect for our criminal justice system and for our constitutional values. to begin with, they want to change the mandatory detention provisions which we've had since 1996 on a bipartisan basis for the last 28 years.

we have operated on the basis of criminal conviction, which is obviously congruent with the constitutional demands and values that we have in our country. and now without having a legislative hearing, they want to radically revise the statutes to say that it's sufficient for somebody to have been charged with or arrested for an offense like shoplifting or theft, even if the charges are dropped and even if charges are never brought after an arrest is made. so it seems to me that they are backtracking from purported fidelity to our constitutional values. similarly, they want to essentially overthrow justice kavanaugh's 8-1 decision in the

united states versus texas from just a couple years ago where the court determined that states do not have standing just to go to court to say that they don't like the way that a particular administration is allocating its resources and implementing a public policy. now, if they want to argue that there's a law that's unconstitutional, they can argue that. but they can't go to court and simply say that the executive branch is implementing the law in a way a particular state doesn't like, and yet they want to occasion that massive shift of power, as justice kavanaugh characterized it, so the states would be able to control federal immigration policy. i'm still reeling from reading the gentleman from -- the author

of this legislation's statements yesterday, which i think also speak to a fundamental disrespect for the rule of law, and says since january 6, hundreds of peaceful protesters have been hunted down and arrested and held in solitary confinement and treated ungusli and thousands of taxpayers dollars have been wasted as millions of illegal immigrants continue to cross our borders into our country. our body was invaded by a mob of insurrectionists who injured 140 officers, wounding them, hospitalizing them, and they cannot even acknowledge that is a fact, but instead change the subject to millions of people crossing the border illegally, which over the decades is undoubtedly happened under both democrats and republicans, that's what we should be working on today. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. mcclintock: madam speaker, i agree with my colleague that the riot at the capitol four years ago was an abomination and i've said so repeatedly whenever the subject arises. there is no excuse for it. i would also remind him what justice kavanaugh said in the united states versus texas, where the supreme court ruled the states currently don't have standing to sue to enforce these laws. what the ruling was, it would require a change in law, quote, elevating de facto injuries to the status of legally recognizable injuries addressable by a federal government. that's what justice kavanaugh said we needed to do. that's exactly what this b does, by the book. and yet the democrats still oppose it. to my democratic colleagues, i ask you, how many more laws with names attached to them do we need to pass before you take this crisis seriously?

how many american citizens must die at the hands of illegal aliens before we all agree that these tragedies are all preventible? must the name of my child or your child be the one attached to a h.r. number before the democrats can vote yes on these commonsense bills? how much more blood must be shed before we all can join in calling for an absolute end to the democrats' reckless open borders and sanctuary cities policies that have threatened our safety, devastated our families, and are in the process of destroying our country? the american people have now spoken clearly on this issue. enough