Congressman Moran Introduces the Border Security Investment Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This afternoon, Congressman Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) introduced his first piece of legislation, the Border Security Investment Act.
The Border Security Investment Act establishes a dedicated source of funding to fix the crisis along our southern border and perpetually maintain the highest level of border security. If passed into law, it would place a 37% user-based transaction fee on remittance transfers via money services businesses, where the remittance originates in the U.S. and is sent to one of the top five nations of origin for illegal immigration into the United States.
Under the proposed bill, revenue collected from these remittances is placed into two trusts—one trust fund that is used by the federal government solely for critical border security in the form of technology investment, physical barriers, and salaries and wages for border patrol agents. The second trust fund is used solely to reimburse states for expenditures they make for border security enforcement measures in the form of deterring unlawful crossing, detecting unlawful activity and entry into the US, and for gaining operational control of the southwest border. This bill also restores fiscal responsibility by directing unexpended funds held in trust in excess of $50 billion between these two trust funds to go towards reducing the national debt.
“The record surges in unlawful crossings at our southern border – spurred by the Biden administration’s open border policies and its refusal to simply apply the existing rule of law – is one we cannot afford to ignore. The Border Security Investment Act is narrowly tailored in its approach by seeking to target only those transactions often times used by those here illegally or those here legally who are not paying taxes, but who are enjoying the benefits of our nation’s social services,” said Congressman Moran. “Most importantly, this legislation will generate funding for badly-needed border security investments without adding to the national deficit or leaving taxpaying Americans to foot the bill for the border crisis.”
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) announced their support for the legislation, stating, “Every year, the United States loses around 150 billion in remittance payments sent to relatives or friends still abroad by immigrants here. These international transfer payments are money not spent on goods and services in this country, and not subject to taxes by either the federal government or the vast majority of states. The loss of revenue from sales, excise and restaurant taxes that could be used to offset the increasingly large number of public services consumed by aliens here is crushing. This is particularly true as the Biden administration seems intent on continuing its lax enforcement of America’s borders and immigration laws as part of its mass immigration agenda. Addressing the shortfall is critical and FAIR is proud to support this common-sense bill from Congressman Moran.”
Background information:
The Border Security Investment Act will place a 37% remittance fee (which is equivalent to the top income tax bracket currently) on remittance transfers made through money services businesses going to the five countries with the greatest amount of citizens unlawfully enter the United States in a fiscal year. This list would be updated annually.
Revenue collected from these remittances would be placed in two trusts:
The Border Security Trust Fund will be allocated towards border security – this will include salaries and wages for Customs and Border Patrol agents, physical barriers, detection technology, and other resources necessary to secure our southern border.
The State Reimbursement Trust Fund will be allocated to states for expenditures they make for border security enforcement measures in the form of deterring unlawful crossing, detecting unlawful activity and entry into the US, and for gaining operational control of the southwest border.
If the sum of the cumulative balances of the trust funds exceeds $50 billion, any amount over the threshold will be allocated to the Treasury for use solely for deficit reduction.
Rep. Green Selected Chairman of House Homeland Security Committee
WASHINGTON—Today, Rep. Mark Green was selected by the House Republican Steering Committee to serve as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security for the 118th Congress.
“For the sake of our national security and homeland security, ending the border crisis Biden created is our top priority,” said Green. “At a time when illegal immigrants are flooding our border by the millions, no community in the U.S. will be unaffected. We must stop the flow of fentanyl that is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans. We will empower our brave CBP personnel with the necessary tools to accomplish the mission. And make no mistake, we will hold President Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas accountable for their complete dereliction of duty in failing to respond to this crisis."
"We will also work to secure our cyber border. In 2018, cyberattacks cost the federal government an estimated $13.7 billion dollars, and recently the Department of Justice determined that 80% of all espionage cases and 60% of all trade secret cases are connected to China in some way. No community in America will be spared if we cannot secure this fourth, deeply vulnerable, border. These are two of the many priorities we will address—and we will not let the American people down."
"For the sake of our country, we have no choice but to address these challenges head-on. I'm grateful to Speaker McCarthy and the House Republican Steering Committee for entrusting me with this task; it's time to get to work and fulfill our Commitment to America.”
The House Committee on Homeland Security is tasked with a wide array of issue areas, including border and cyber security, emergency preparedness, and counterterrorism.
Rep. Green’s biography can be found here along with his official photograph here.
Congress Must Act to Cure the Border Crisis
JANUARY 27, 2023
Over the last couple of years, the Biden administration’s destructive policies regarding our nation’s border security and immigration laws have placed a huge burden on states and their residents to patch the cracks in the system. But the states can only do so much. The real solution needs to come from Congress.
This past December marked the highest border encounters in U.S. history. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that 251,487 immigrants tried to cross the border illegally. They also confirmed that at least 1.2 million illegal immigrants “got away” since President Biden assumed office in 2021. The actions (or inactions) of the Biden administration are reckless. Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan said:
Joe Biden is the first president in my lifetime to intentionally un-secure the border. By way of more than 90 executive orders, he undid the successful Trump-era policies that brought illegal immigration to a 40-year low and gave us the most secure border of our lifetimes. This president and his team were warned what would happen if they got rid of those policies. They did it anyway, and you’re looking at the consequences.
At the beginning of January, Biden announced that the U.S. would begin turning away immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who travel through Mexico to cross the border illegally. However, he will allow 30,000 people from these countries to enter the U.S. legally per month. This would result in 360,000 immigrants per year gaining work benefits who would have otherwise come to America illegally. This process is unfair and senseless.
The states echo the same sentiments. Twenty state Attorneys General have joined a lawsuit to sue the Biden administration for their actions. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall stated:
Every state, including Alabama, has become a border state due to the disastrous and misguided immigration policies of the Biden Administration. The open borders agenda has created a humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions of Americans every day.
This unlawful amnesty program will prove to be an open invitation for hundreds of thousands of migrants to continue entering into the U.S. illegally every year and will only make the immigration crisis significantly worse, costing Alabama taxpayers millions and wreaking havoc on the criminal justice system.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are ready to make changes as well. The House Oversight Committee announced plans to investigate the border crisis. Chair James Comer (R-KY) invited four border patrol Chiefs to testify in front of the committee during the week of February 6th and sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting all documentation and communication regarding this issue.
While the House’s investigation is underway, Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) has introduced a bill to stop the flow of illegal immigration until the border is secure. The Border Safety and Security Act (H.R. 29) mandates the suspension of immigrants if the Department of Homeland Security cannot properly detain them and allows state Attorneys General to sue DHS if the laws are not enforced. While the bill has garnered fifty-eight cosponsors so far, the left and some squishy Republicans are fighting against it which is souring the appetite of the House leadership to bring it to the floor for a vote.
DACA Illegal Alien, Freed by Sanctuary County, Sentenced to Life in Prison for Triple Murder
An illegal alien, once enrolled in former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and previously freed by a sanctuary county, has been sentenced to life in prison after murdering three Americans.
Luis Perez, a 27-year-old DACA illegal alien from Mexico, was sentenced this month to five consecutive life sentences after having been found guilty last year of murdering 38-year-old Steven Marler, 23-year-old Josh Hampton, and a woman accused of being an accomplice to Marler and Hampton’s murders.
As Breitbart News reported at the time, Perez was allowed to stay in the U.S. despite his illegal alien status after receiving DACA protections in 2012 and 2014.
In late 2017, Perez was arrested and charged with domestic violence in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Even as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asked for custody of Perez, the jurisdiction’s sanctuary policy ensured he was released back into the community.
Then, in November 2018, Perez showed up at Marler and Hampton’s residence — where he once lived — and shot them both to death. Driving a getaway car, police allege was 21-year-old Sabrina Starr whom Hampton had been dating.
