Rep. Addison McDowell told Newsmax on Wednesday that anyone who did not support the Laken Riley Act should look in the eyes of someone who lost a family member due to actions carried out by illegal immigrants and explain their vote.
The legislation would require ICE to take custody of illegal migrants who commit theft-related crime, while currently local law enforcement can only contact ICE when a major crime has been committed by an illegal immigrant.
The Senate votes on the measure on Friday.
Appearing on "National Report," McDowell, a North Carolina Republican serving in Congress for the first time, said "this is common sense legislation, and I would question any member of this body that would vote against it."
He stressed that "I would challenge them to look at a family like Laken's or look at a family like mine. We lost my younger brother to fentanyl poisoning, and that's the reason I'm in Congress.
McDowell reiterated that "I would challenge those Democrats to look at my family, look at my parents, to look at me, and tell me why they voted against this bill, because it makes no sense. This is a common sense issue that if you commit a crime here [as an illegal immigrant] you are going to be deported, and I don't see why this was not a common sense, unanimous vote."
The congressman added that the Laken Riley Act is "absolutely a great first step" in making the nation more secure.
"We got a mandate for President Trump, because people didn't feel safe, and it's my No. 1 priority in this Congress to have President Trump's back and help him secure our border and fix the Biden border crisis."
McDowell said "this is a great first step and, of course, it is a sad, somber day that we honor Laken. But it's a great day because there' a new sheriff in town, and we are ready to get to work.
He also totally dismissed that the bill is "anti-immigrant," making clearer that "we are not talking about immigrants, we are only talking about illegal immigrants who commit crimes."
McDowell emphasized that "it's an intellectually lazy thing to say that Republicans are going to be anti-immigrant. That's not true at all. What is true is that if you come to this country [illegally] and you commit a crime, you are going home ... that is the mandate that President Trump got and we're excited to get to work to enforce that agenda, because it is needed. We cannot wait any longer. We have to get to work right now."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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