On Thursday, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced legislation which aims to provide justice to those and their families who have been the victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Known as the Justice for Angel Families Act, it looks to restore the Trump-era Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office, which specifically tracked crimes committed by illegal immigrants. It was dismantled by the Biden administration, however. The legislation also extends support from the federal government through the Crime Victims Fund to American families if a family member is murdered by an illegal immigrant.
"The Biden administration has failed to secure our nation's borders, creating a historic crisis that has made every community less safe. Under Biden’s watch, we have had record numbers of migrants crossing who have been listed on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist, and a historic number of 'gotaways' now living in the shadows," Marshall said in a statement "As we continue to fight for this administration to secure our nation's borders, there has been irreversible damage and pain that Angel Families have to live with for the rest of their lives. These families are the true victims of this Administration's failures, and as I fight for justice and restoring law and order, they must get the help and support they need."
The bill was also introduced in the House by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) in September, who spoke to how illegal immigration has gone downhill since former President Donald Trump left office.
"As soon as Joe Biden took office, he reversed successful Trump-era policies, resulting in wide open borders," said Nehls in a statement. "Terrorists, rapists, murderers, and other bad hombres are infiltrating our country and committing violent crimes, sometimes taking the life of an American citizen." His statement also highlighted how victims and their families are often left without recourse.
"Just this year, an illegal alien in my district was involved in a hit-and-run crash, and one of my constituents lost their life. Sadly, the relatives of my constituent are left with the financial and emotional burden of the criminal acts of the illegal alien without support from the Biden Administration. Americans should not have to pay the consequences of illegal aliens’ actions," his statement continued. "I commend Senator Marshall for joining me in reintroducing this crucial piece of legislation to support families who fall victim to illegal alien crime so they can focus on what is important—grieving and rebuilding after losing their loved ones."
Closing the VOICE office is not the only immigration disaster that has befallen the Biden administration, which often lies and gaslights on the crisis at the southern border, all while blaming Republicans. There's also been record high encounters at the southern border. Further, there's been 1.7 million illegal immigrant "gotaways" since January 2021, with 600,000 so far this year alone, as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed earlier this week when being questioned by Marshall during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
🚨600,000+ known got-aways, in addition to the nearly 2.5 million encounters, in the fiscal year that just ended. Add in undetected got-aways, and we are WAY past *3 million* illegal border crossings in the last year alone. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Iowa. https://t.co/lSWGvOOfQJ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 31, 2023
In March of this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a press release indicating the prevalence of illegal immigrants with criminal records, indicating that between March 4-March 13, the agency "apprehended 220 removable noncitizens during a nationwide enforcement effort." The release also noted that ICE's their Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested arrested 46,396 non-citizens with criminal histories, and that the group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions.
In June, the Heritage Foundation published "Increased Illegal Immigration Brings Increased Crime: Almost 2/3 of Federal Arrests Involve Noncitizens." The ommentary from Hannah Davis, a former research associate at the think tank, provided further insight into the crime issue.
Marshall's bill is also co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
As Marshall's statement mentioned, those on the terror watchlist have been among those crossing our southern border. Last week, as Fox News reported, the senator introduced legislation that would require the federal government to report to Congress details about such encounters involving those on the terror watchlist.
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