Prominent House Republican Clay Higgins is calling on enforcement agencies to “get geared up” to support ICE immigration operations due to “ongoing” enforcement measures across the nation.
Clay Higgins, a Southern Louisiana representative and chair of the House Federal Law Enforcement Oversight Subcommittee, warned local law enforcement to “get your mind right” and train up to help with the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the border and deport illegal immigrants.
Speaking during a House Federal Law Enforcement Oversight Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Higgins said, “This is going to be an ongoing operation,” adding that the subcommittee will also be involved in the effort, which he described as a “restoration of law and order in our country.”
He added that “in recent years we’ve seen the weaponization of our justice system, lawlessness in our cities, and an open border that has allowed drugs and dangerous gangs into our country with deadly results.”
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The rep also vowed that “throughout this Congress, we’ll tackle these issues and ensure that President Trump has all the tools and resources he needs to address rampant crime.”
According to multiple experts who testified at the hearing, local “sanctuary” policies that prevent law enforcement agencies from collaborating or aiding ICE and other federal authorities make it extremely difficult to enforce immigration law and endanger communities.
Executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society and one of the experts testifying during the hearing, Joseph Humire, said under the Biden administration, 14 million illegal immigrants entered the country. He went further that “if only .5 percent” of these illegals are involved or tied to criminal organizations, “then we are facing a crime, a terror contingent inside the United States that is the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps combined.”
He commented that “if that’s not a national security emergency, I don’t know what is.”
During the hearing, Pinellas County, Florida, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri testified that in light of the criminal illegal threat in his community, his department is willingly taking part in ICE’s 287(g) program, which permits local law enforcement to support specific immigration actions such as detention and processing.
He urged Congress to pass federal legislation allowing all local jails to hold criminal illegals for ICE based only on immigration detainers, even though his office takes part in this program.
He explained that “in other words, give the detainers the force of law as opposed to simply making them an ask with no teeth.” “This is a big deal to fix, and it should be done as soon as possible because it would mean that criminal illegals, like the one I mentioned, will be deported directly from jail and not released back into the community to commit more crime.”
