EXCLUSIVE: Republicans in the House on Thursday will introduce a bill to block a reported plan by the Biden administration to pay millions of dollars to illegal immigrants separated under the Trump administration – as President Biden has sought to dismiss the reports.
Rep. Tom McClintock, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, will introduce the Illegal Immigration Payoff Prohibition Act, which amends 18 USC 2414 – which gives the attorney general the authority to enter settlement agreements.
The bill would block the attorney general from making any settlement payments to illegal immigrants that directly arise from their violation of immigration laws, including laws that criminalize illegal border crossings and that make a migrant inadmissible for attempting to enter a country illegally at a port of entry.
The bill is co-sponsored by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan and 135 other members, and it represents a coordinated effort by House Republicans to block a reported plan by the Biden administration to pay $450,000 per migrant who was separated under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.
“Who says crime doesn’t pay? Under Biden it apparently pays very well indeed,” McClintock said in a statement. “Law-abiding, hardworking Americans have seen their purchasing power decimated by Biden’s economic policies while he has surrendered our southern border. Paying illegal immigrants $450,000 apiece as an apology for Trump’s decision to enforce our immigration law adds insult to injury. Congress has the power of the purse, and that’s why we must act today to stop this outrageous plan in its tracks.”