Jeff Sessionsa former senator from Alabama and attorney general to President Donald Trump, said the current border crisis is allowing more criminals to enter the United States.
“You know, in poor countries, they don’t keep people in jail for 30 or 40 years. They are happy to get rid of you. So if you are a child molester and the sheriff and police chief in Honduras know you, what are you going to do? You got a cousin in LA, you just walk across the fronteraSessions said. in a podcast on September 29 with Mark Krikorian, director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies.
“So I think we are arresting more criminals than we used to. [detener] in the immigration system.
Sessions became a polarizing figure among conservatives shortly after becoming attorney general when he recused himself from the Justice Department’s Russia collusion investigation.
At the border, Sessions was instrumental in the “zero tolerance” policy. that was applied for about two months beginning in April 2018. The policy was consistent with immigration law that says if people cross the border illegally, they must be detained.
It became known as the “family separation” policy, as several hundred parents were temporarily separated from their children, as all the adults were rounded up and prosecuted for trespassing.
The motivation behind the move was to stop the “catch and release” policy that had lured thousands of illegal immigrants who knew they would be released into the United States, even though the vast majority were ineligible for asylum.
The administration stopped the zero tolerance program on June 20 and then enacted the program Stay in Mexico, which had the effect of drastically reducing illegal entries. Instead of being released into the United States with a court date years later, the program forced illegal border crossers to wait in Mexico until their case was adjudicated by an immigration judge.
“It’s hard to overstate how difficult it was for the Trump administration to make progress,” Sessions said.
“There were lawsuits filed in court as attorney general and we dealt with them. And we defended the president’s actions. And we started winning cases and changing policies. And the success was real. And the numbers fell… [Pero eso] was dismissed by the administration [Biden]. What they did is beyond anything imaginable.”
President Joe Biden emitted a handful of executive orders within hours of taking office on January 20, 2021.
On the first day, the administration signed executive orders and issued memos to temporarily suspend deportations of illegal aliensreverse Trump’s ban on travel from terrorism-prone countries, stop border wall construction, stop adding people to the “Remain in Mexico” program, preserve and strengthen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) and launch a comprehensive immigration package to Congress that includes amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.
Since then, a record number of illegal aliens from more than 160 countries have crossed the US-Mexico border, including more than 2 million who crossed last year.
Border Patrol agents reported that at least an additional 599,000 illegal aliens evaded capture last year, nearly 50,000 per month, according to figures obtained by Fox News.
Those who evade capture, known as “fugitives,” are presumed to be evading law enforcement because they are criminals, were previously deported, or know they will not gain legal entry.
During fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol agents arrested 78 illegal aliens who are on the US government’s terrorist watch list, compared to three arrests of individuals on this list during fiscal year 2020, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Additionally, Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 11,000 convicted felons at the border and another 836 with warrants in fiscal year 2022, with one month of missing data. Another 697 gang members have been arrested at the border.
“I have a feeling that the whole world is learning now that not only Mexicans and Central Americans can come here illegally, they can also come here illegally,” Sessions said.
Krikorian said he expects more illegal aliens to arrive from African countries, the Middle East, China and India.
“Once the door is open, they will go through it hoping to get through before we wake up and close it again,” he said.
Sessions said Republican lawmakers in Washington must apply more pressure to secure the border.
“What I found was, and I’ve said it many times, they will vote for any immigration bill that sounds good, but if it really works, it will never pass,” Sessions said.
During Trump’s first two years, Republicans controlled both the House and Senate but failed to pass any legislation to close the loopholes in immigration law that fueled many of the illegal entries.
“It’s a colossal disaster that we have to open up our system to anyone who wants to come. That can never be legitimate policy of a great nation,” Sessions said.
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