Madam Speaker, Today I, along with Representatives Chris Shays and Heath Shuler, introduced H.R. 6687, the Fuel Immigration Enforcement Act of 2008. This bill would help ensure that Immigration and…
Madam Speaker, Today I, along with Representatives Chris Shays and Heath Shuler, introduced H.R. 6687, the Fuel Immigration Enforcement Act of 2008.
This bill would help ensure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (``ICE'') has the resources it needs to enforce our nation's immigration laws in the face of the rising cost of fuel.
Last year, ICE budgeted $20 million for fuel expenses, but the rising price of gas forced them to spend more than $40 million.
Even more alarming, it appears the $20 million fuel budget was based on an assumption by the Department of Homeland Security that the price of gas was approximately $1.62 per gallon.
The Fuel Immigration Enforcement Act would require the Department of Homeland security to begin using realistic estimates for ICE's fuel expenses. Specifically, it would require the Department to calculate, on an annual basis, the cost of fuel expenses for all vehicles owned or operated by ICE according to gasoline prices reported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update, and then report those calculations to Congress.
ICE is tasked with enforcing our nation's immigration laws, and is absolutely critical to the Phoenix metropolitan area as well as other metropolitan areas in the southwest where criminal aliens set up drop houses as way stations for drug, weapon and human smuggling operations. The Phoenix metro area in particular is estimated to have as many as 1000 such drop houses.
The House Appropriations Committee recently said, in no uncertain terms, that, ``ICE should have no greater immigration enforcement priority than to remove violent, deportable criminal aliens from the United States.'' I couldn't agree more.
We need to ensure that ICE has the resources it needs to crack down on drop houses and other criminal alien enterprises. When ICE is unable to meet its responsibilities, it falls to local law enforcement to fill the gap. Our local law enforcement is already stretched thin, and I fear the burden will be even greater if ICE is forced to scale back its efforts due to an increase in the price of gas.
If we are serious about enforcing our nation's immigrations laws, we need to provide the resources necessary to get the job done. The Fuel Immigration Enforcement Act will help ensure that ICE has what it needs, in the face of rising fuel expenses.
I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.
