A group of House Republicans, led by Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, introduced legislation Thursday that would put an end to catch and release.
The legislation, first obtained by the Daily Caller, is titled the Ending Catch and Release Act and would prohibit the Biden administration from continuing to release illegal aliens into the country. The bill additionally requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to either detain an illegal alien or require them to remain outside the U.S. while their asylum claim is pending, and it also would raise the threshold for asylum claims.
Illegal immigration at the southern border hit an all-time high in 2021. Since President Joe Biden took office around 5 million people from over 150 countries have entered the U.S. illegally.
“President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security has long abused our immigration system and its actions are facilitating a catastrophic border crisis,” Biggs told the Daily Caller before introducing the legislation. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Biggs Calls On VA Secretary To Attend Forum Regarding Wait Times For Veterans)
“The Biden administration has ended the successful policies of the Trump administration that secured our border. Instead of building on those successful policies, the Biden Administration chose to reinstate failed catch and release policies that ignore the statutory requirement that illegal aliens be detained while their asylum claims are pending,” Biggs continued.
READ THE BILL HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“Catch and release is incentivizing historic levels of illegal immigration, stretching Border Patrol resources thin, and making our communities unsafe. My legislation restores integrity in our immigration system by explicitly prohibiting DHS from paroling or otherwise releasing illegal aliens into the country. DHS can either detain the illegal alien or require them to remain outside the United States while their claim is pending. We must maintain operational control of the southern border and this legislation gets us closer to that,” Biggs added. (RELATED: Court Rules Against Catch And Release For Migrants)
Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar told the Daily Caller News Foundation in July that he does not believe in catch and release.
The bill’s cosponsors include Reps. Scott Perry, Paul Gosar, Andy Harris, Greg Steube, Randy Weber, Doug Lamborn, Bob Good, Mary Miller, Jody Hice, Michael Cloud, Lauren Boebert, Tom Tiffany and Ralph Norman.