DV Journal

(From a press release)

Rep. Craig Williams (R-Delaware/Chester) announced legislation to establish a private cause of action against government officials who willfully disregard federal immigration laws, including lawful detainers issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This proposed law would create a statutory exception to sovereign and governmental immunity, allowing individuals to seek damages for harm caused by the knowing release of illegal immigrants or knowing failure to notify ICE or honor ICE detainers.

In recent years, various public officials within the commonwealth have adopted policies directing law enforcement agencies and correctional institutions to ignore lawful immigration detainers or prohibit reporting the custody of illegal immigrants. These localized policies have led to the release of offenders into communities, and the harm which may come to the community is entirely foreseeable. This legislation will establish a causal link between such releases and the resulting harm as a matter of law.

“The public deserves to know their government is prioritizing their safety. When officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities – or worse – intentionally thwart the efforts of federal authorities to remove violent criminals from our country, they create avoidable dangers in our communities,” said Williams. “This legislation removes the statutory protections of governmental and sovereign immunity for any official who knowingly flouts the laws of our country.”

One example of the need for this legislation is Laken Riley who was a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered while jogging on the University of Georgia campus on February 22, 2024. Her killer, José Antonio Ibarra, was a Venezuelan national associated with the Tren de Aragua gang who had entered the U.S. illegally and was released after being detained by federal authorities. Prior to the murder, Ibarra had multiple arrests in New York and Georgia but was repeatedly released. Had Ibarra been held Laken would be alive today.

On January 29, 2025, President Trump signed into law the Laken Riley Act. According to the Department of Homeland Security, this law “mandates the federal detention of illegal immigrants who are accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury.”

The Laken Riley Act relates only to federal action. The Williams bill relates to state action and will require notification and cooperation with federal authorities relating to any detained illegal immigrant or suffer the pecuniary consequences of harm caused by a released illegal immigrant.

This legislation allows suits against both the authors of sanctuary policies (and those who vote to implement such policies) as a legal proximate cause of any harm coming from the release of illegal immigrants.

“We should not be in the business of providing legal sanctuary by way of immunity to officials who put the public in harm’s way – intentionally,” said Williams.

I was just at a round table where we discussed, in the most civilized manner possible, the immigration controversy.

Everyone in the conversation liked and respected each other, and listened to the opinions, sometimes quite diverse, from those at the other end of the philosophical spectrum. Some were focused on the chaos at the border. Others wanted to find a way to legalize the millions who were living here already with no status. Another person was upset about ICE raids on a Puerto Rican restaurant that essentially amounted to an attempt to deport U.S. citizens.

Another participant mentioned that the most extreme moves from the Trump administration, like the termination of birthright citizenship, would be blocked by the courts because they were unconstitutional. And finally, someone talked about the need to get rid of criminal aliens, the ones who have been preying upon innocent Americans like Laken Riley.

To be honest, we did have that conversation. And there were a number of people at the table. But every one of those comments was made by me.

I write this to show that you can walk and chew gum, be a law and order conservative and compassionate, oppose abortion and random and cruel family separations at the same time. In me you will find the wide range of opinions and priorities of the American public, and in me you will find someone who cannot be pushed into one category. I am neither “deport them all,” nor am I “accept them all.”

This is an issue of great nuance. But unfortunately, nuance does not seem to win elections.

I mentioned during that conversation that the slew of executive orders and actions were designed to create “shock and awe,” and keep the promises that President Donald Trump made during his campaign. While many pretended that “it was the economy, stupid,” I knew in my heart that the most explosive and compelling issue was immigration. After all, one of Trump’s first acts after his first inauguration was to issue the travel ban, which some incorrectly insisted on calling the “Muslim Ban.”

It was not a ban targeting Muslims, otherwise Albania, Bosnia, Turkey and a host of other countries with Muslim populations would have been included on the list. They were not. The list mirrored many countries that had been suspected of involvement in terrorism. On that basis, I was able to defend the action in some ways, even though I ended up at the airport to protest what I feared would be excesses.

This time around, though, Trump is more seasoned. He was not prepared for the backlash that many of his ill-thought out immigration policies would trigger, and some of them actually fizzled out when they were challenged in court. That is happening again. Many of his initiatives will be tied up in the courts, and that is a very good thing. The president does not get to rearrange refugee policy with a ballpoint pen, regardless of what he thinks about a unitary executive.

Nonetheless, it is very clear that Trump 2.0 has a plan, and has made sure that he picked the people he believes will execute it the best. I think Tom Homan, who served under Obama as well as Trump, is an excellent choice because he is not an ideologue interested in ethnic cleansing, like some of Trump’s advisers. Homan is the real deal. I don’t hold out much hope for Kristi Noem, who is a pretty face and wears a cowboy hat with élan, but who has never in her life had to deal with significant border and security issues as governor of South Dakota, one of the least populous states in the nation.

As a conservative, I want to see the chaos at the border erased. I want to support Trump in his efforts to get rid of criminal aliens, and in that group I include those who have one conviction as well as repeat offenders. If we have to start somewhere, start with the people who pose a threat to our security.

But, also as a conservative, I cannot support the idea that children will go to school one day and come home to an empty house because their parents have been picked up and put on a plane home. Those parents are not criminals, because violating immigration policy is not penal. It is civil. Those people clean your houses and trim your bushes and cook your meals. And yes, they are parents to U.S. citizens, because birthright citizenship is not going anywhere. As someone who is radically pro-life, I cannot deal with fellow pro-lifers who think that the baby in the womb deserves protection but a child born in this country to undocumented parents does not.  As a lawyer, I don’t like to see my constitution manipulated for political gain.

Many have said to me that I am too emotionally involved in this issue. Some have even suggested that they think I am criticizing the government because it’s cutting into my business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Chaos is good for my business. Deportation is good for my business.  The more suffering there is, they more clients need assistance.  And I am repulsed by the suggestion from my conservative friends that this is all part of my master plan.

When I sat at that round table, I said I hoped we would arrive at common sense solutions. I said that I hoped we would honor the founding principles of this country, which has always been a refuge for the dispossessed, while at the same time giving priority to the safety and prosperity of United States citizens.

As its first order of business, the new Congress fulfilled a campaign pledge made by Republican candidates and President Trump to strengthen federal immigration enforcement. Area U.S.

Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) and newly elected Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh), along with their Republican colleagues and almost a quarter of Democrats, passed the Laken Riley Act, named after the Georgia nursing student murdered last year by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally and previously charged with shoplifting in New York. Now, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be required to detain and deport illegal immigrants charged with certain crimes, including theft and causing death or serious bodily injury.

With new obligations on ICE and a presidential administration that is now focused on addressing illegal immigration, we must ensure that Pennsylvania is doing its part to protect our citizens and other legal residents. That’s why I recently joined my State Senate colleagues Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) and Wayne Langerholc (R-Cambria) to sponsor legislation requiring county district attorneys and the state Attorney General to notify ICE whenever they learn during the course of a criminal proceeding that a defendant is not in this country legally. This change will guarantee ICE can detain and deport an illegalimmigrant charged with a crime.

This bill was passed out of the Senate with a bipartisan, veto-proof majority last session but was not even given consideration by the Democrat-majority State House. The House’s lack of action, and Gov. Shapiro’s failure to lead on efforts to stop illegal immigration, have given cover to those municipalities that are considered “sanctuary cities” and in some cases openly defy ICE orders to detaiillegal immigrants after arrest.

We need to keep the City of Philadelphia, Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties, and every other Pennsylvania municipality from appearing on any list of sanctuary cities that don’t fully cooperate with ICE. Those of us in the Pennsylvania legislature who support upholding our immigration laws have a new ally in President Trump’s Department of Justice, which is now making clear that “state and local [entities must] comply with the Executive Branch’s immigration enforcement initiatives” and that “state and local laws, policies, and activities that are inconsistent with Executive Branch immigration initiatives” may be subject to federal legal action.

In warning Congress about the cost of implementing the Laken Riley Act, the Homeland Security Department under former President Biden estimated it might need more than 10,000 enforcement personnel and 110,000 detention beds. To me, this is a clear admission by the federal government of the scope of the problem and the reason we must more effectively enforce our immigration laws. Why would we knowingly risk allowing thousands of illegal immigrants who have been arrested for serious crimes to be released and possibly commit crimes elsewhere, rather than detain and deport them through ICE?

The legal residents of Upper Macungie Township, Lower Milford Township, Quakertown and everywhere in between deserve better than that. I don’t want to have to learn about another Laken Riley. Or Jocelyn Nungaray, the 12-year-old from Texas who was raped and strangled to death by alleged assailants here illegally from Venezuela. Or the two New York City police officers brutally attacked by an illegal alien in 2023, months after the man got out of jail on theft charges. There are too many tragedies, too many American families hurt, that could have been avoided if ICE and our state and local authorities were aligned on upholding our immigration laws.

I want to use my position as a Pennsylvania State Senator to be part of the solution. I want to protect law-abiding citizens and put all levels of government on notice that ICE must be notified if an illegal immigrant has been arrested in their jurisdiction for another crime. I look forward to my legislation passing the Senate and hope the House and Governor Shapiro will join in this bipartisan effort to assist ICE in enforcing our immigration laws.

The horrific murder of Laken Riley in Georgia has hit a nerve for many Americans who are already concerned about the border crisis.

Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who illegally crossed the southern border in September of 2022 has been charged with murdering 22-year-old Riley while she was out on a run. Any murder is a tragedy. But the murder of a U.S. citizen by an illegal immigrant shocks the conscience because it represents an unacceptable breakdown in law and order. Simply put, this murder was preventable, if only our government enforced all our immigration laws.

During his recent State of the Union Address, President Biden painted himself as a man ready to tackle border security on day one. If only he had. Then violent individuals like Ibarra would’ve been swiftly detained and removed. But because of our broken border and overwhelmed immigration courts, Ibarra was processed, released, and allowed to roam freely. And that put a dangerous individual in Laken Riley’s path.

But the people Border Patrol apprehends aren’t even our greatest concern.  Our border is so overwhelmed by migrants claiming humanitarian relief that our agents spend most of their time processing them. Border Patrol agents didn’t sign up to do asylum paperwork – they signed up to protect us.

And because they can’t, over 1.7 million southern border crossers have evaded apprehension since President Biden took office. We don’t know anything about these people except that they want to avoid detection. Are they all bad? Unlikely. Are some violent criminals? Almost certainly.

Securing our communities starts at the border. This is the message that the Americans for Prosperity Foundation has articulated repeatedly during our numerous border trips and border security events hosted with state chapters of Americans for Prosperity. While the national narrative concentrates on border states, areas further from the U.S.-Mexico border need to understand the problem too. Without proper border security every town becomes a border town, every state becomes a border state.

How do we secure the border? Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin said it best in his interview for a recent Congressional report:

“[W]hat I’ve seen in my career is that we always need that combination of things. You’ve probably heard me talk quite a bit about technology, infrastructure, and personnel. And so nothing by itself works. The personnel by itself, there will never be enough of us to do this. A border wall system by itself won’t work. The technology, you have to have– somebody put hands on somebody.” (emphasis added)

Border walls are effective in urban areas where crossers can vanish in seconds. On the other hand, walls aren’t particularly helpful in a remote area, like Big Bend National Park, where it might take days to reach the nearest highway or city. There, technology like drones and sensors to detect illegal migrant activity is crucial.

Something that is often lost when we talk about the border wall is that it isn’t a stand-alone entity. It was part of a system based on Border Patrol’s requirements. It comes with high-powered lights, motion sensors, and long-range cameras. That’s what made Biden’s abrupt cancellation of Trump’s border wall so damaging. Border Patrol wasn’t merely losing a wall; they were also losing other tools to apprehend illegal crossers.

Walls and technology, while very important, have, of course, never made an apprehension. That’s why you’ll always need personnel. But it’s been difficult to hire, and even more difficult to retain good personnel. After peaking at 21,444 in FY 2011, the number of Border Patrol agents dropped to 19,536 in FY 2021. Enticing and retaining personnel is difficult because of the isolated work locations, negative public perception of Border Patrol agents, and because those with higher degrees can find more lucrative work in other occupations.

A strong border is not a panacea to all that ails this great country, but it’s necessary for a stronger and safer U.S.

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On Thursday, the U.S. House passed the Laken Riley Act, a bill named for a young Georgia student who was killed while jogging on campus, allegedly by an illegal immigrant.

The bipartisan bill passed 251-170, with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks/Montgomery) voting for it and all three Delaware Valley Democratic congresswomen –Mary Gay Scanlon, Madeleine Dean and Chrissy Houlahan—voting against it. All the no votes came from Democrats; 37 other Democrats voted for the measure.

“Congress must do everything it can to prevent another parent from losing his or her child,” Fitzpatrick told DVJournal. “Laken Riley’s death never would have occurred if our borders were properly secured and immigration laws enforced. I will continue to work in a bipartisan way to find a solution to protect our borders.”

Scanlon, Dean, and Houlahan did not respond to requests for comment.

The bill would require that any illegal immigrant who committed burglary, larceny, shoplifting, or theft be detained.

The murder of the 22-year-old nursing student, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, on the University of Georgia campus shocked the country.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan who came to the U.S. illegally, was charged with her murder.

Congressman Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) posted on social media, “Laken Riley was murdered in cold blood by Jose Ibarra – an illegal alien who had committed previous crimes in NY. This NEVER should have happened & today, we voted to to ensure ALL criminal illegals like Ibarra will be arrested & detained. 170 Democrats STILL voted against this.”

Along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) taking the immigrants charged with crimes into custody, the act allows state attorneys general to litigate against Homeland Security to enforce the removal requirements in the act.

The resolution was introduced by Georgia Rep. Mike Collins (R).

“While we can’t bring Laken back, we must now turn our focus to doing everything we can to prevent this from happening to another American,” Collins said in a statement. Collins had invited Riley’s parents to come to the State of the Union with him, but they declined.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on social media, “170 House Democrats just voted against the Laken Riley Act, refusing to require the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants who have been caught committing a crime. Sadly, if these Democrats have their way, there will be more victims like Laken Riley.”

Also, on social media, Johnson said, “The Laken Riley Act is so important because we’ve got to ensure that this can’t happen again. Republicans will not stand for the release of dangerous criminals into our communities, and that’s exactly what the Biden administration has done. Laken is just one of the tragic examples of innocent American citizens who have lost their lives and been brutally and violently attacked by illegal criminals who are roaming our streets because they’ve allowed them in.

Republicans have called on President Joe Biden to mention Riley in his State of the Union speech.

He did mention her, briefly, in his remarks.

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President Joe Biden will try to paint a rosy picture of the country and his policies in the State of the Union address Thursday night, with an eye toward reelection. But opponents are taking aim at a major policy weakness: illegal immigration.

The conservative nonprofit Building America’s Future announced it will bracket the State of the Union with a $700,000 television buy, including two different commercials that hammer Biden on immigration. The ads will air nationally and in key markets in battleground states across the country, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In “Run,” Building America’s Future pins the blame for Laken Riley’s brutal murder by a previously arrested illegal immigrant on Biden’s refusal to deport illegal immigrants who were arrested by local police.

“Run” Transcript: “Laken Riley should have been able to go on a run in broad daylight without being murdered by an illegal immigrant. But Joe Biden promised not to deport illegal immigrants.

HOST: Should that person be deported?

BIDEN: That person should not be the focus of deportation

Biden vowed not to detain illegal immigrants who cross the border.

BIDEN: No one. No one would be put in jail while waiting for their hearing. 

So when Jose Ibarra crossed into America illegally, he was not deported; he was not put in jail. Biden also supported sanctuary cities.

HOST: Should undocumented immigrants arrested by local police be turned over to immigration officials?

BIDEN: No.

So when Jose Ibarra was arrested in New York City for endangering a child, he was freed a second time; Ibarra went to Georgia, where he beat Laken Riley to death. How many more killers has Biden set free?”

Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist and CEO of Quantum Communications, says he thinks illegal immigration will be a major issue in this year’s presidential election.

“Border security is the number one issue in the minds of voters, and Biden and his administration have no excuse for their multiple failures,” said Gerow.

The new ad follows a recent survey from The Tyson Group showing immigration is a top motivator for Republican voters, who overwhelmingly oppose the weak on immigration policies that led to Riley’s murder.

The Tyson Group survey found:

• Eighty-one percent of likely GOP primary voters said stopping illegal immigration is a very important issue for them when deciding who to support for president, second only to improving the economy at 83 percent.
• Seventy-five percent of likely GOP primary voters would be less likely to vote for an elected official who has supported weak immigration enforcement legislation. (laws that prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In “Health Care for Illegal Immigrants,” BAF highlights the dangers of the 340B program being used to provide health care to illegal immigrants.

The new spot comes after Virginia’s legislature recently passed a bill strengthening the 340B program in that state. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office signaled Monday he might veto the measure because “he is deeply concerned about the federal 340b program and how it could be exploited to provide taxpayer-subsidized healthcare to illegal immigrants.

“Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants” Transcript: “The border is broken. Millions illegally pouring into our country. But it’s not just the border. Your tax dollars are at work for illegal immigrants. The more we look, the more we find…Our police are under assault. Free credit cards for illegals and free health care? They’re using a program currently under investigation called 340b to launder your money and provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants. The more we look, the more we find…We need Republicans to stand up for us.”

However, Maureen Testoni, President and CEO of 340B Health rejected the ad’s description of the program.

“The 340B program does not rely on taxpayer funds and so the claim that somehow federal taxpayer money is being ‘laundered’ to provide free healthcare to illegal immigrants is patently false,” Testoni said in a statement. “What is more, by using the word ‘launder,’ which the dictionary defines as ‘to transfer (illegally obtained money or investments) through an outside party to conceal the true source,’ the ad is deceiving viewers into wrongly believing that the 340B program is being used for illegal purposes. There is absolutely no support for this salacious allegation of criminal activity.”

Jeff Jubelirer, with Bellevue Communications, said he believes all voters are concerned with immigration.

“The issue of immigration is top of mind for voters,” said Jubelirer. That’s why both Biden and Trump recently went to the border and addressed the matter in person with dueling visits. It’s also why substantive immigration reform legislation has been drafted, although with Trump opposing the recent bipartisan effort, it failed to pass.

“Immigration is not a Republican or Democrat issue; it’s an American issue. Every issue these days – it seems – is viewed with such partisan lenses, and at this time, with months to go until the general election, I don’t sense the ads will have much impact. It will only serve to reinforce existing views,” he added.

On. Feb. 13, the Republican-controlled U.S. House voted to start impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkes. Some 7.2 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since Biden took office and halted former President Donald Trump’s tough border control policies.

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