Representative Mike Garcia (CA-25) and 146 fellow lawmakers introduced the Illegal Immigrant Payoff Prohibition Act, which would prevent the U.S. Attorney General from making settlement payments to individuals and families who entered the United States illegally.
 
This comes in response to the Wall Street Journal’s report of the Biden administration’s plans to pay as much as $450,000 per person to compensate families separated at the border under the Trump administration. 
 
“We continue to warn President Biden of the very real crisis at our southern border, and he repeatedly fails to listen. Since the President took office, there have been 1.4 million illegal border crossings and over 10,000 individuals arrested with criminal convictions,” said Garcia. 
 
“This proposal to use taxpayer funds to pay individuals who entered the U.S. illegally up to six times the average annual income for American households is both irresponsible and wrong. These proposed payments that could amount to $1 million per family, and $1 billion in government spending overall, will only add fuel to the fire. This is going to further the crisis at hand, incentivizing more individuals to illegally cross the border, and empowering drug cartels and criminal organizations to utilize it to their advantage,” said Garcia. 
 
The failure to secure the border has negative implications for Americans across the county, including in California’s 25th District where transnational criminal organizations are taking over the area with illegal marijuana grow operations. Last week, the Daily Caller released a documentary on how the open border is fueling the illegal marijuana grows crisis in California’s Antelope Valley and how this problem is dangerous for the local community and harming the environment.
 
“The implications of our open southern border stretch beyond our border communities, as we have seen in California’s 25th District with the illegal marijuana grows taking over communities in the High Desert. These illegal grow operations are worked by 95% illegal immigrants and run by international criminal organizations,” said Garcia. “We cannot keep pushing policies that put America last. It is my hope that this legislation will put an end to this payment proposal.” 
 
Fox News covered this proposed legislation here. 
 
Read more from Garcia on this proposal here.