Rep. Onder Newsletter: This Week in Washington

This week, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement held a hearing titled "Sanctuary Policies, Tragic Consequences," examining sanctuary policies in California, Colorado, and Maryland and their impact on immigration enforcement and public-safety.

Thousands of criminal aliens were released into our communities during the Biden Administration, while sanctuary policies allowed many to evade federal immigration enforcement. Law enforcement officers are already overwhelmed by the sheer number of illegal aliens in our country, and they need the tools and cooperation necessary to detain those who pose a threat to our communities. Sanctuary policies make that job even harder by limiting cooperation with federal authorities and making criminal aliens more difficult to apprehend. The result is simple: individuals we already know are dangerous are released back onto our streets.

In this week's subcommittee hearing, we heard testimony from Patricia Fox, whose daughter, Carissa "Luu" Aspnes, was permanently disabled following a hit-and-run crash in Colorado involving a Venezuelan national who was in the country illegally; Marcus Coleman, whose daughter, Dalilah, was permanently disabled following a multi-car crash caused by an individual who was in the country illegally; and Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler of Harford County, Maryland, who is challenging Maryland's recently enacted sanctuary law in court. The Subcommittee also heard from David Bier, the Selz Foundation Chair in Immigration Policy at the Cato Institute.

During my questioning, I highlighted the serious public-safety consequences of these policies in Democrat-run states. We have seen far too many Americans killed or harmed, and these tragedies cannot continue. When state and local governments limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, they make it harder for law enforcement to do its job and keep dangerous criminals off our streets. My colleagues and I will continue pressing for stronger enforcement to protect American citizens and ensure those who are in our country illegally are held accountable under the law.

In my remarks, I played a video showing a Somali illegal alien driving an 80-ton semi-truck the wrong way on Highway 61 in Troy, Missouri. I raised this alarming incident as part of a broader discussion about licensing standards, immigration enforcement, and the need to keep unqualified and dangerous drivers off our highways.

Missouri has taken a positive approach by banning sanctuary policies, and I believe families across our state should be able to count on local, state, and federal law enforcement working together and communicating effectively when public-safety is at stake.

We need to protect American families from enduring unnecessary heartbreak and ensure that voluntary agreements between ICE and participating state and local law-enforcement agencies remain in place. People are safer when federal and local law enforcement communicate and cooperate and when jurisdictions work with ICE. Sanctuary policies put politics ahead of public-safety, undermine law enforcement's ability to do its job, and leave American families to suffer the consequences.

As #MO03's representative in Washington, I'm committed to protecting the values we hold dear and the integrity of your vote. I discuss how the House of Representatives is responding to the rise of Democratic Socialists and standing up for the principles our country was founded on.