WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) sent a letter to President Biden with his Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing their opposition to the reports of the Administration’s plans to pay illegal immigrants up to $450,000 of taxpayer dollars per person to settle lawsuits as a result of those individuals violating U.S. immigration law.
They wrote: “Already this year, this administration has pursued border policies that have undermined our national security and created a preventable crisis at the United States-Mexico border…All the while, our nation continues to see a record number of encounters at the border, including a current caravan of thousands of migrants from across the globe working its way north through Mexico to the United States.”
“At a time when respect for our country’s immigration laws is at an all-time low, our federal government is now seeking to financially reward aliens who broke our laws.”
“Our nation has been made stronger by the generations of legal immigrants that have contributed to our country and achieved the American Dream. But rewarding illegal immigration with financial payments runs counter to our laws and would only serve to encourage more lawlessness at our border.”
The letter was signed by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
Full text of the letter is here and below.
November 1, 2021
President Joseph Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Biden,
I write to you today regarding disturbing media reports indicating that the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services plan to offer illegal immigrants hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of taxpayer dollars to settle lawsuits resulting from their violations of U.S. immigration law.
Already this year, this administration has pursued border policies that have undermined our national security and created a preventable crisis at the United States-Mexico border. These policies include ending border wall construction, supporting sanctuary jurisdictions, weakening immigration enforcement policies by terminating the “Remain in Mexico Policy,” and creating exceptions to Title 42 enforcement. All the while, our nation continues to see a record number of encounters at the border, including a current caravan of thousands of migrants from across the globe working its way north through Mexico to the United States.
At a time when respect for our country’s immigration laws is at an all-time low, our federal government is now seeking to financially reward aliens who broke our laws. The previous administration already took action to ensure that DHS could maintain custody of family units apprehended along the border and charged with criminal improper entry, rather than separate the family and transfer the parents to criminal detention. The government also already signed a settlement agreement in 2018 to address concerns about family separation. Yet the new agreement that DHS is considering would have the government pay out potentially more than $1 billion to illegal immigrants based on allegations that DHS intentionally caused them emotional harm. However, these illegal immigrants disregarded our immigration processes cut in front of those seeking to legally enter our nation, and put children at risk of great personal injury or death by placing them in the hands of abusive smugglers. Not only would these settlements be breathtakingly unjust and unwise, but they reinforce the conditions that make it easy for the cartels to recruit more people to undertake the treacherous journey to our southwest border, and serve only to encourage more illegal immigration.
Americans are a kind and generous people who welcome a diverse array of immigrants from around the world. Our nation has been made stronger by the generations of legal immigrants that have contributed to our country and achieved the American Dream. But rewarding illegal immigration with financial payments runs counter to our laws and would only serve to encourage more lawlessness at our border. To that end I ask that your administration refuse to issue any settlement payments for aliens who broke our laws.
Sincerely,
/s/