Exclusive — Sen. Bill Hagerty: Democrats Blocked Bill to Stop Taxpayers from Flying Illegals into U.S.
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Democrats blocked a bill that would have stopped U.S. taxpayer dollars from flying illegal immigrants into the United States, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily.
This occurred Saturday, Hagerty explained, as Democrats rejected the proposal, which would have kept America safer.
“This occurred in the wee hours of Saturday morning this weekend. Again, this was pushed back. Chuck Schumer maintained ball control as late as he possibly could, right up to the point that the government almost shut down,” the senator said, explaining that Schumer wanted to avoid Hagerty putting forth legislation that “would stop the use of taxpayer money to fly illegal aliens in here on charter planes from countries like Nicaragua [and] Haiti.”
“You've got Venezuelans that are being put on charter planes, all courtesy of U.S. taxpayer, U.S. government, U.S. taxpayer dollars and flown into America,” he said, emphasizing that these individuals are not crossing the border but flooding over into “43 different airports here in America.”
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In 2023, the senator continued, 320,000 illegal migrants were flown into the U.S. using this method under the Biden administration. So, Hagerty said he put a simple vote to the floor, asking colleagues to stop using taxpayer dollars to do this.
“Every single Democrat voted against me,” he said. “Every single Democrat voted to continue this preposterous policy of flying people in here illegally by the thousands into our country,” the senator explained.
“And this links back to an amendment I put forward two weeks prior. That legislation was quite simple, as well. It said we should stop counting illegal migrants in the apportionment of congressional seats and electoral votes. I think most people in America are shocked to find out that's what's happening right now. We don't count people that are here on vacation. We don't count people that are here serving as diplomats. Why in the world should we count people that are here illegally? Yet that is what's happening,” he said, adding that it is the motive behind the left allowing illegal immigration to fester — more congressional seats.
“That is the motive behind the crime on our border because if you look at people leaving these blue states — like New York, like Illinois, like California — and then you think about, where are the sanctuary cities — New York, Manhattan, Chicago, San Francisco, LA — I think it makes the motive very, very clear. They're trying to maintain their power in the Congress,” he said.
Dozens of recently arrived migrants camp outside of the Roosevelt Hotel, which has been made into a reception center, as they try to secure temporary housing on August 1, 2023, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Host Mike Slater emphasized that Hagerty is not talking about the transport of illegals already in the U.S. to other states.
“You're not talking about flying the illegal aliens from Texas to Chicago. You're talking about flying them from Honduras to Chicago?” he asked.
“Yes. These people are being collected by the U.S. government and flown directly from their countries of origin. I'm talking about flying them in here from Colombia, Venezuela. The crime rate has gone down in Venezuela. You know why? Venezuelan gangs are all operating up here right now,” the senator said.
“You remember seeing those two Venezuelans who brutally beat police officers in New York; then they were released with no bail and, you know, fled to California. You think about the crime that's going on right here in our neck of the woods — the murder that took place at the University of Georgia, another Venezuelan. [He] committed a crime in Manhattan, walked away because they…let him go with no bail, came down to Georgia, and killed Laken Riley,” he said.
Jose Antonio Ibarra (R) is accused of kidnapping and murdering Laken Riley (L) while she went on a morning job around the University of Georgia on February 22, 2024. (Laken Riley/Facebook, Clarke County Sheriff's Office)
“It's just preposterous that we're allowing this to go on,” he continued. “But the Biden administration is so desperate to get these people in so they can count them that they're willing to look the other way and see all this crime — the devastation that fentanyl is causing. Everything that goes along with this is a complete crisis. Yet they're managing this crisis so they can control the Congress.”
Further, Hagerty warned the American people not to be fooled into thinking that Democrats care about the border as the election draws closer, as President Joe Biden signed dozens of executive orders in his first 100 days in office, undoing former President Donald Trump's policies.
“He issued 94 separate executive orders to undo the secure border that Donald Trump left him. He has the power and the authority right now to come back again, [build] the wall again, stop catch and release, start deporting criminals again, all of the things that they will not do — the Remain in Mexico policy that was so effective,” he said, explaining that they have “walked away from it.”
“They need to reinstitute that. Instead, Mexico is telling us how it's going to be here in America. It's just shocking what has happened because of this weak posture and this weak policy,” he added.
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
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