Taking Action to Reverse Immigration Failures and Protect Communities

“What a difference a day makes.” We don’t often think of that phrase applying to government, but fortunately there are exceptions –– and we’re witnessing one now.

President Trump and Republicans spent years emphasizing the failed border and immigration policies of the Biden administration. The chaos and crisis that unfolded on our southern border, and then spilled over into communities across our country, eventually became a liability too great to ignore.

One of the mandates voters gave the new administration and Republican-controlled Congress is to end the scenes of bedlam at the border and protect communities from the dangers unlawful mass migration invites. Already, through new policies from the White House and in Congress, that charge is being met.

A recent report revealed that the number of encounters at the southern border in the first three days of the Trump administration was 35 percent lower than the final three days of the Biden administration. And it took less than 48 hours for the Trump administration to launch its deportation actions targeting criminal illegal immigrants.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations team arrested more than 460 illegal immigrants in a 33-hour period starting the day after inauguration day. Heroic agents identified and apprehended sexual assault, murder and robbery offenders from countries including Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Senegal and Venezuela. These operations were conducted across multiple states and even in so-called “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with our immigration authorities.

That is just one example of the work underway to address the border and immigration crisis that exploded over the last four years.

The president also signed multiple executive orders during his first week back in office to enhance efforts to achieve border security and remove threatening illegal immigrants, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border and directing the deployment of additional military personnel to help regain operational control, as well as directives to end catch-and-release, reinstate the policy requiring migrants to stay in Mexico while waiting for their asylum cases to be heard, and designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

I’m pleased to share that Congress has also stepped up in an important, bipartisan way.

We passed legislation this month to provide more tools to fight crime committed by illegal immigrants. The Laken Riley Act, which grew from the tragic death of a Georgia college student at the hands of an illegal immigrant who had already previously been arrested but was not detained, will help safeguard our communities and prevent other American families from becoming future victims.

It requires ICE to detain any illegal aliens accused of theft, burglary, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer, and crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury. The legislation also permits states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.

There is no excuse for the lawless policies and under-enforcement that led to our country facing this unprecedented situation. But Congress and a new White House are already taking significant steps to fix this urgent problem and secure our border so it doesn’t continue.

I am pleased to work with the Trump administration and my colleagues on these solutions that Arkansans and all Americans have demanded. It is our duty and priority.