Collins statement on H.R. 2820 markup

"My colleagues have the chance to help our overworked men and women of DHS, the overwhelmed NGOs and the American people, who believe in our country’s sovereignty. Sadly, my Democrat colleagues are making us consider a bill to worsen the border crisis by incentivizing more people to cross our borders illegally in hopes of benefiting from Democrats’ mass-legalization scheme. "No doubt, at this very minute, the smuggling cartels are getting the word out: Congress is going to legalize people residing in America illegally."

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, gave the following opening statement at the markup of H.R. 2820. Below are the remarks as prepared. Ranking Member Collins: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our southern border is in a state of complete and utter disaster. Over the last several days, Customs and Border Protection has apprehended an average of 4,500 people per day. During the first seven months of this fiscal year, the number of people apprehended has already surpassed any fiscal year total since 2009. On one single day this month, 5,235 individuals were apprehended. In April there were 58,474 family unit members and 8,897 unaccompanied alien minors apprehended, and those numbers will be surpassed in May. The number of single-adult apprehensions has reached a five-year high. Border Patrol has encountered more than 150 large groups — those with over 100 people — so far this year. The largest group had upwards of 450 people in it. Border Patrol processing centers are far beyond capacity. ICE detention facilities are full. Even the NGOs providing shelter and other aid to migrants are completely overwhelmed. Perhaps the worst part about the flood of aliens coming to the border is the toll on children brought on the journey. CBP has identified more than 3,000 potentially fraudulent family units, and aliens are admitting they have either “borrowed” or “rented” or “bought” — yes, “bought” — a child because they know if they arrive at the border with a child, they are all but guaranteed to be admitted. Just last week, a 51-year-old Honduran national, who had already been deported, brought an unrelated six-month-old with him to ensure he would be quickly released by U.S. authorities. The crisis is real, and the crisis is substantial. Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it. Jeh Johnson, the former Obama Administration DHS Secretary, recently said, “We are truly in a crisis.” In April, the Washington Post editorial board said the southern border “has bloomed into a crisis that has overwhelmed existing infrastructure and bureaucracy.” Even Speaker Pelosi has finally begun to admit there’s a crisis on the border. I believe the flood of migrants can be greatly reduced and better protected by enacting legislation to fix the Flores settlement agreement, amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and raise the credible fear standard, but I am not the chairman, and I do not set the committee’s agenda. What have my Democratic colleagues done to address the situation? Absolutely nothing. My colleagues have the chance to help our overworked men and women of DHS, the overwhelmed NGOs and the American people, who believe in our country’s sovereignty. Sadly, my Democrat colleagues are making us consider a bill to worsen the border crisis by incentivizing more people to cross our borders illegally in hopes of benefiting from Democrats’ mass-legalization scheme. No doubt, at this very minute, the smuggling cartels are getting the word out: Congress is going to legalize people residing in America illegally. When this committee held a hearing about DREAMers in March, I implored the chairman to “give us a bill that legalizes some of the illegal immigrant population and that includes enforcement measures to secure our border and enforce the law inside our country.” As I stated then, “a bill that grants mass legalization and shuns any real enforcement measures will be opposed by Republicans for the political stunt that it is.” Today, my Democrat colleagues are engaging in exactly that stunt. They had a chance to show they are serious about an immigration solution for DACA recipients, and perhaps even for the DREAMers they have talked about “protecting” for years. Instead, today we are considering a piece of legislation that is simply a disingenuous political statement. H.R. 2820 provides a special path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. In doing that, it places the interests of those who have violated our laws above the interests of men and women who have waited patiently for their green cards to become available. Of course, the bill provides that same path to legal nonimmigrants, so the number of potential beneficiaries is completely unknown. The bill also allows criminal aliens and those who have committed immigration fraud to receive green cards. It ultimately rewards parents who brought many of these individuals to the U.S. illegally with green cards and eventual citizenship of their own. It incentivizes fraud through lax documentation requirements and allows people to skirt the requirements. It even allows aliens no longer in the U.S. to apply for green cards. H.R. 2820 purports to prevent alien gang members from eligibility, but the prohibition is so narrow it is virtually unworkable. As evidenced by two floor votes last year, the vast majority of Republicans want to provide legal status for DACA recipients, but we want to do it the right way — to minimize fraud and ensure criminals cannot get the status, so we won’t find ourselves repeating this conversation in five or 10 or 15 years. H.R. 2820 accomplishes none of these goals. I therefore urge my colleagues to oppose the legislation.