(Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) introduced a new bill on Wednesday that would supply Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with resources necessary to do their jobs properly.
The bill is called the ICE Agent Support Act of 2016. It states that it will be presented for a vote to both houses of Congress “to provide resources and incentives for the enforcement of immigration laws in the interior of the United States and for other purposes.”
According to Cruz’s senatorial website:
This legislation would provide ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations with dedicated, substantial revenue from statutory fines and penalties for illegal aliens that are not currently being enforced by the Obama administration, but would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year. The relevant statutory provisions call for fines and civil penalties for refusing to leave the United States after being ordered or agreeing to do so, using false documents, or engaging in marriage fraud.
Cruz commented on his website about the newly introduced legislation:
For far too long, the Obama administration has discouraged enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. President Obama has even personally threatened ‘consequences’ for the dedicated men and women who try to follow the law. This legislation sends a clear signal of support to the ICE agents who risk their lives on a daily basis to enforce our nation’s immigration laws. The next administration must support the people who protect us from illegal immigration and punish those who break our laws.
Cruz and Sessions introduced the new legislation in order to address the distressing hearing conducted with ICE director Sarah Saldaña.
In December of last year, Saldaña appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the Obama administration’s immigration policies.
Saldaña said in the hearing:
We have a number of obstacles in our way to remove people[…] I would like to see changes to the entire immigration system code which supports a system that is broken and just is not effective. And yet, we don’t seem to be getting that movement from Congress.
Well, two and a half months later, here’s some movement for you.
To watch last December's Senate hearing exchange between Cruz and Saldaña, click here.