(The Daily Caller News Foundation)—The House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday to impose new criminal and immigration penalties on smugglers and illegal migrants evading arrest across the southern border.
Criminal cartels linked to the cross-border drug trade have invested heavily in efforts to illegally smuggle foreign nationals seeking to live in the United States across the southern border, with their operatives, known as “coyotes,” often directing migrants into the interior of the country and leading to U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) pursuits. On Tuesday, the House passed a bill to target such conduct, which has previously resulted in injuries and deaths of USBP agents.
The bill was passed by a vote of 271 yeas to 154 nays, with many Democrats voting in favor. It was principally sponsored by Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, whose district includes a portion of the international border with Mexico, and is named the “Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act” for a USBP agent who, in 2022, died in the line of duty while pursuing migrants on an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV).
“My district sees high-speed car chases coming through our communities every day, putting both the lives of Arizonans and Border Patrol agents in jeopardy,” wrote Ciscomani in a press release in September of 2023 about the bill. “We must send a signal to any bad actors illegally coming through the southern border that their actions have dire consequences.”
The bill creates a new federal criminal offense for intentionally fleeing USBP within 100 miles of the international border, subject to imprisonment of up to two years. If a subject’s flight results in serious bodily injury or death, the penalties increase to a maximum of 20 years or life in prison, respectively.
The bill would also bar any individuals convicted under the new law, who themselves are illegally present in the United States, from receiving any legal status thereafter, including asylum status.
“Traffickers are killing people by loading up a car or truck stacked with illegal immigrants and then engaging in high-speed chases with Border Patrol or local police,” wrote Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has introduced a companion bill in the Senate, in a statement. “These high-speed chases often end in tragedy, with people being killed regularly after the traffickers crash and passengers are thrown across the highway. Equally tragic are those innocent Americans who are struck by an illegal alien fleeing police or Border Patrol.”
The bill received many endorsements from several border-area law enforcement agencies, as well as the National Border Patrol Council and National Sheriffs’ Association, according to Ciscomani’s member website.
In the Senate, a bipartisan group of senators is currently negotiating a deal to enact border security measures in exchange for funding Ukraine during its war against Russia. The text of the deal has not yet been released, though its leaked provisions have been heavily criticized by congressional Republicans and some Democrats.
“We must ensure that there are meaningful consequences in place for any illegal migrant who threatens the safety of our communities and lives of our citizens,” wrote the office of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
