Matt Gaetz: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. While we have heard a good amount of inflammatory rhetoric, my remarks will speak…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. While we have heard a good amount of inflammatory rhetoric, my remarks will speak solely to the facts. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of keeping America safe. In less than 2 years, over 8,000 undocumented immigrants, all subject to ICE detainment, were released because of local noncooperation policies. Sixty-three percent of those illegal aliens had prior convictions or had been marked a public safety concern. After being released, they went on to be rearrested nearly 4,300 times, committing nearly 7,500 new offenses. The facts are clear: States and local governments that do not comply with our immigration laws are putting American citizens at risk. The U.S. Sentencing Commission found that, in 2014, 75 percent of all criminal defendants who were convicted and sentenced for Federal drug offenses were illegal immigrants. As of 2014, illegal immigrants made up roughly 3.5 percent of our population but committed over 10 percent of all murders. Refusing to turn over criminal illegal immigrants poses a threat to our society, our safety, and our economy. American citizens pay nearly $19 million a day to house and care for the 450,000 criminal immigrants in jails and prisons who are all eligible for deportation. When cities ignore Federal immigration laws, the results are often tragic. The sheriff of Travis County, Texas, decided she would only turn over illegal aliens who have committed a narrow list of crimes.…”