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(Washington, DC) - Legislation based on the CLEAR Act by U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA) to enlist as many as 700,000 state and local law enforcement officers in the war against illegal immigration passed the House today by a powerful 277-140 margin - the third time a version of the bill has been approved in the House this session.
HR 6095, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, included the foundational policy provision of Norwood’s Clear Law Enforcement for Removal of Criminal Aliens, HR 3137, reaffirming the authority of state and local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws.
"The margin by which this bill passed sends an unmistakable message to the Senate from the people’s House that the nation demands action on this issue," Norwood says. "All across America, people have witnessed horrific crimes committed by criminal illegal aliens, who were released on our communities because we failed to enforce immigration laws. This bill will finally bring enough personnel to the fight that we can have a chance a winning if the Senate will simply do their duty. This gives them a single, simple bill to pass that will turn the tables on criminal aliens, if the other body will simply stand up for American citizens instead of lobbyists."
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Norwood Remarks on the Floor of the House:
"Mr. Speaker, this bill reasserts that state and local law enforcement can and should help federal officers on immigration law whenever they reasonably can, if they choose to. It is a policy that our law enforcement community has conducted successfully for decades in helping enforce federal drug and racketeering laws.
Why then the outrage and mass lobbying against it by the pro-illegal immigration crowd? Because this bill goes to the heart of our enforcement problem, that is simply a lack of enforcement. Across the board, from the borders to the workplace to illegal immigrant crime, we have allowed the odds to become hopelessly stacked against enforcement.
In regards to rounding up criminal illegal aliens, we currently have roughly 5,000 federal agents trying to apprehend 500,000 illegal aliens with court orders against them. 80,000 of them are serious felons, such as murderers, drug dealers, child molesters, and rapists.
Those odds are impossible. But if we allow our 700,000 state and local police to volunteer to help, the odds get a lot better. That might just start an epidemic of looking at other ways to improve our odds in fighting overall illegal immigration. And that undermines the illegal immigration lobby’s theme song, which is the lie that we can’t stop illegal immigration so we may as well give in.
Well, we can stop all these problems if we only have the will. This legislation proves how using commonsense partnerships between state and federal authorities to multiply manpower will get the job done.
We’re not talking about going after illegal aliens who are otherwise obeying our laws and are just here to work. This bill is targeted only on criminal aliens. Ironically, most of their victims are their fellow immigrants.
And let’s make one point absolutely clear. There is nothing in this bill that prevents local police from granting immunity from being reported for deportation to any illegal immigrant crime victim who comes to them for help.
Mr. Speaker, this short bill is the key component in the CLEAR Act I introduced three years ago. It has already passed this House twice as part of larger legislation. Let’s send it to the Senate as a clean short bill that will have to be considered. Thank you, and I yield."
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