John Conyers: “before I yield to Mr. Becerra, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I always like to hear the gentleman from…”

“before I yield to Mr. Becerra, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I always like to hear the gentleman from Georgia describe these bills. He says it only targets violent felons, and I would love to find that place in the bill where that is the case. Nothing in this bill says that State and local law enforcement are authorized to enforce immigration law but only to focus their efforts on immigrants who are serious felons. In a news release, the gentleman from Georgia said that this bill would provide funding for training and resources for State and local enforcement agencies to voluntarily enforce immigration laws. Nothing in the bill provides any money for training or resources for State and local law enforcement. Not a dime. And that is why I have 25 pages of law enforcement officers that are opposed to the bill. Chiefs of police, mayors, sheriffs are all opposed to this bill. Republicans and Democrats, I might add. And, of course, I should remind everyone in the body that we can already detain criminals or anyone that commits a criminal act, whether they are an immigrant or a citizen, but the problem is that only the Federal Government can deport anyone. So anybody committing a crime is subject to being detained. {time} 1500 This bill isn't about immigration reform. It is further evidence of a failure of leadership for us to have this body connect with the other body to get a conference going. The gentleman from California (Mr.…”