House Republicans introduced legislation this week that would push states to prioritize victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
The bill, called the Justice for Victims of Open Borders Act, was introduced Thursday by Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL). The bill would (via Fox News):
The bill would change grant disbursements through the 1984 Victims of Crime Act. That legislation created a Crime Victims Fund which provides funding to state and local programs and services to focus on helping crime victims rebuild their lives.
The bill would require the attorney general of each state to certify to the Justice Department that the state "prioritizes making payments to victims of crimes committed by an alien who was unlawfully present in the United States at the time of the commission of the crime" or whose status was unknown.
It also would make states certify that they do not provide any compensation to illegal immigrants. The authors say the bill would also likely result in better crime data as it requires states to consolidate data in order to meet the terms of the funding the bill would require.
"The Biden administration’s cataclysmic failures at our nation’s southern border have led to a sizable surge in violent crime that puts every American and their families at risk," Foxx told Fox News Digital of the legislation. "It’s evident that President Biden is unwilling to address this issue, so we’re taking a stand."
Late last month, Flores said in an interview with Townhall that open borders have impacted her South Texas congressional district “tremendously.”
“This open border policy under the Biden administration is hurting not just Americans, it’s hurting immigrants as well. These immigrants go through sexual abuse, have to pay thousands of dollars to criminal organizations to come here to the United States,” she explained. “If we care about immigrants, we should be focusing on legal immigration and improving the legal process so they’re able to come here to the United States, but it doesn’t take 10 years, 15 years to come here.”
She added that Democrat-led sanctuary cities, like New York and Chicago, should “step up” and share the burden of the border crisis.
“They have encouraged people to come here illegally, and it’s because of them that these people are in this horrible situation,” she said.
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