Republican Texas Rep. Beth Van Dyne sparred with CNN's Brianna Keillor on Tuesday after Keillor asserted that immigrants who cross the border illegally are not criminals.
A week earlier, House Republicans approved a Senate border deal that would appropriate $48 billion for Ukraine and nearly $16 billion for Israel, while also paying for more immigration judges and expediting asylum and deportation procedures. The proposal was rejected.
But the bill includes a provision that would not require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to declare a state of emergency and close the border until the number of border encounters reaches a seven-day average of 5,000 people per day. is also included. The lockdown will then continue until the two-week average number of illegal immigrants falls to 3,750 people per day.
House Republicans passed tougher border security legislation (HR2) in May and recently stepped up their push for a vote in the Senate. According to Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who introduced the Senate version of the bill in September, The law is “To the NGOs that are receiving tax dollars to restart wall construction, tighten asylum standards, criminalize visa overstays, hire more border patrol agents, and support the transportation of illegal aliens throughout the heartland.” funding, prohibit DHS from using the app to assist illegal aliens, and more.”
Van Dine argues that the Biden administration forced Republicans to push through HR2 by ignoring the law and failing to use existing powers to stem the flow of illegal immigration, which led to an increase in crime. She claimed they were connected. (Related: 'Oh My Goodness': Faulkner laughs after Chip Roy makes Ukraine joke)
“Before I joined Congress, I was a mayor. I was the mayor of Irving, Texas, and we had a great partnership with immigration officials. [sic] And at Customs Enforcement, we were actually working with them to remove criminal illegal immigrants from our communities. Because we saw the amount of crime it was causing,” Van Dine said. “It turns out that what they are preying on is other people who are in our country illegally.”
“As a result of that partnership, our crime rate has decreased and we are the fifth safest city in the country,” she continued. “These partnerships work. Enforcing our laws works. What we've seen is just the opposite under this administration. And you're watching people die. I’ve seen it—”
“Well, okay. Let's stop and ask about this. A few things: First of all, the criminal conviction rate for illegal immigrants is 45% lower than that for Americans born in your state. Just to be clear: When it comes to “they're going to create too many crimes and they're going to get convicted,'' when it comes to violent crimes, property crimes, murders, sex crimes, you has talked about rape in the past, but about the numbers. Just don't support it. But let's focus on catch and release. because–“
“Wait, wait, wait,” Van Dine interjected. “But your argument is, 'We're defending people who are in the country illegally'?”
“Can you focus on catch-and-release, because I-” Keillor repeated.
“You brought up that question! Just wanted to make sure we're responding to it. Illegal immigrant assaults NYPD officer in Times Square and immediately released without bail 1 Citing the incident in January, Mr. Van Dine appears to be defending an illegal immigrant who was in the country illegally and was attacking a police officer,'' Van Dine continued.
“No!” Keilal interjected. “Sorry, did I say that? I didn't say that!”
“That's not OK. They shouldn't be in our country,” the congressman continued.
Keillor later claimed that she didn't think the Times Square incident was “okay” and accused Van Dine of “misunderstanding where I'm coming from.”
It is a crime to enter the country without passing through a legal entry point. 8 USC 1325making all illegal immigrants criminals.
The two then moved on to catch-and-release issues, and Keillor threatened to terminate the interview if Van Dine continued to try to intervene.
