Bill Nelson: “I see. Well, then, at some point, I will then likewise be offering a second amendment, which is quite similar. I…”

“I see. Well, then, at some point, I will then likewise be offering a second amendment, which is quite similar. I explained a bit about it yesterday. I will simply take this opportunity, while I have the floor, to point out what that amendment does, and the committee bill has moved in the right direction. The committee bill is providing 20,000 detention beds for people who are picked up for having been illegally in the country. What happens now is that somebody comes across into America, they are here illegally, and what do you know--we don't have the detention space in which to process them. They are released. There is one part of the border where up to 90 percent of the captured illegal aliens are released after being caught by DHS. Guess what happens. They completely disappear. Only 10 percent, approximately, appear for their subsequent immigration court hearings. DHS says we don't have any space. Presently, DHS has in the range of about 10,000 detention bed facilities. So 90 percent of captured aliens are released. The committee bill clearly is a step in the right direction. What they have done is doubled that to 20,000 beds. What my amendment would do is say let's be realistic: 20,000 beds is not going to cut it, and you are going to continue on this practice of finding an illegal alien and DHS is going to be required then to release them into American society, and they are not going to turn up again. We simply have to stop this.…”