ICE is warning Congress that without funding it could be forced to release tens of thousands of immigrants into the U.S., which "shouldn't be a surprise to anyone" because the U.S. now has "over 20 million people in our country illegally, and we're now having to play catch-up," Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, told Newsmax.
"We're going to have to figure out, you know, moving forward, the policy changes that are going to make sure that this doesn't happen again," Van Duyne told Newsmax's "The National Report."
"For the last four years, Republicans have been, you know, having this siren that this is overwhelming the system and that the policies that have been allowing catch and release that you've got so many tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of potentially terrorist, criminal, drug cartels, gang members in our country.
"We always knew it was going to cost money to be able to detain and deport them, but this should have been happening all along.
"That's why we fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You know, it's the fact that we now have over 20 million people in our country illegally, and we're now having to play catch-up shouldn't be a surprise to anyone."
ICE over the weekend warned that it didn't have enough capacity to detain those targeted by the Laken Riley Act and would need $3.2 billion in additional funding or release many immigrants to make room.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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