Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who introduced the Laken Riley Act, said the legislation — named for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student murdered by an illegal alien – has helped federal immigration authorities remove "a lot of these criminals" before they "committed major crime."
The bill was the first piece of legislation President Donald Trump signed into law when he began his second term, and Collins told Newsmax's "National Report" that "the reason was the news media helped us keep her name in the media, and it became the face of this problem that we have had in our country during the Biden administration."
"The American people were demanding for something to be done and the Laken Riley Act was laying right there," Collins said Wednesday. "And the other part of that, I think that President Trump saw that. He had already addressed that the border security was the number one problem in our country and the fact that these thugs, these criminals have invaded our country and have been raping and pillaging Americans."
"It was a good first bill to be signed into law," he said. "It helped immigration, helped [border czar] Tom Homan out there to pick up these people before they really do something violent, which is what [Jose] Ibarra did to Laken Riley. And it's unfortunate that he was not given the death penalty, but that DA down there, who was a George Soros pick, would not go for the death penalty. But if there was ever a death penalty case, that's one right there."
The Georgia congressman also commented on a recent town hall held by Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., in which the Democrat continued to stand by his decision to vote against the Laken Riley Act.
"He can stand up for these thugs and these criminals all day long, for these murderers," Collins said. "They can continue to go to El Salvador. Please make sure that they keep getting on the news about that. It's more evidence out there. And even on your segment previous to this, it's just more evidence that the Democrats, where they stand, where they stand up for these illegal aliens, especially these criminals."
"In a state like New Mexico, that you were just talking about, that just goes to show that [former President] Joe Biden and the Biden administration had another tool in their toolbox that they could have used to prevent this from happening, but they don't want that," he said. "There is a reason that they want these illegal aliens to come into our country. They need them for votes, because the American people understand that we have had enough. We've had enough of the socialistic agendas that's been crammed down our throats for four years to try to make us look more like Europe, more every day. And that's not us. America first and America is back."
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