Boudreaux Testifies in Washington DC on Illegal Immigration | Photos

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux explained the consequences of illegal immigration, particularly that of criminal organizations and drug cartels involving illegal immigrants, during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Boudreaux was among the witnesses invited to testify at the Republican-led hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee. Billed as “The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives,” the hearing examined the effects of the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policies on American families and communities.

In addition to the witnesses invited by Republicans, there were also immigrant advocates invited by Democrats. Republicans invited a number of witnesses who had lost loved ones as a result of crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

A recurring theme during the hearing was the need for better oversight of illegal immigrants entering this country, and the Harris-Biden administration has failed to do so.

In his opening statement, Boudreaux said he had come to testify “about the dangerous and deadly consequences of what I see as a failed Biden-Harris open borders policy.” He added that as Tulare County sheriff, he has a “front row seat” to those failed policies.

He said that as a result of Biden and Harris’ policies over the past three years, “we’ve had to deal with the impact of violent criminals coming into our communities.”

Boudreaux noted that Tulare County has a large population of immigrants and farm workers. He said criminal illegal immigrants have “infiltrated” those communities, endangering children.

He said illegal immigration crime involves areas such as drug trafficking, gun trafficking, gangs, human trafficking and using children for sex. “I’m very involved as sheriff with these immigrant communities,” Boudreaux said.

Boudreaux said there are illegal immigrants, drug lords and gang members who force these communities to “pay rent” for their safety.

He also criticized comments he said Kamala Harris made about defunding the police and comparing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, to the KKK, saying those comments were “demoralizing to law enforcement.”

He also raised concerns that he believes the Border Patrol has. “I have a lot of friends in the Border Patrol,” Boudreaux said. “I can tell you they are frustrated.”

Boudreaux gave a number of examples of crimes committed by illegal immigrants in Tulare County, including an incident in which someone was shot and killed at a morning-night market, which led to a violent shootout between Tulare County Sheriff’s Office officers and the suspect, an illegal immigrant.

He also mentioned the incident known as the Terror, which occurred in 2018 involving an illegal immigrant and left three people dead and an officer-involved shooting.

Boudreaux said he watches out for illegal immigrants from Yemen and China. He noted a Mandarin-run ring that placed 40 women brought across the border illegally into prostitution across California. He added that another Mandarin-run operation is stealing millions of dollars online from senior citizens.

He also mentioned the arrest of El Mano Negra, who Boudreaux said has admitted to more than 25 murders for a drug cartel in Tulare County. And he mentioned the effort to dismantle the Sinaloa cartel.

Boudreaux also mentioned the incident in which 150,000 fentanyl pills were discovered, but the two suspects were released and never seen again, he said, due to state law.

During interrogations of people arrested after the Sinaloa cartel was taken down, cartel members said it was now easier than ever to perform tasks such as transporting drugs and weapons, particularly fentanyl.

Republican Congressman Tom McClintock of Northern California asked Boudreaux to take on the cartels. “They’re very smart,” Boudreaux said. “They’re very good at what they do. They’re businessmen.”

He added what’s happening in California with regard to the drug cartels: “It’s mirrored in other states across the United States.”

McClintock also wondered if the dangers that immigrants are fleeing are taking root here. “It’s already taking root,” Boudreaux replied.

McClintock also asked Boudreaux to address Senate Bill 54, which Boudreaux said would prohibit police from asking someone about their immigration status.

He asked Boudreaux how many crimes in Tulare County were committed by illegal immigrants and Boudreaux estimated it was “well over 50 percent.”

Democratic members of Congress on the committee noted that there was no legislation attached to the hearing, although Republican members on the committee did mention legislation they are working on.

But Congressman Glenn Ivey said that “from a legislative standpoint, we’re not going to get anything” from the hearing. He added that comprehensive immigration reform is needed, “but we’re not going to do it in a partisan way.”

Republicans noted that the House passed HR2 15 months ago, but Democrats said Republicans knew the bill had no chance of becoming law, calling it a fantasy. They also noted that Donald Trump and Republicans blocked a bipartisan $20 billion border bill supported by the Border Patrol agents’ union.

During a debate earlier this year, when Boudreaux was running for Congress, he indicated he could not support the bill because it was also tied to an aid package for Ukraine.

Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell even went so far as to show a montage of Republicans talking about how the legislation was blocked. The montage showed Mitt Romney saying that what Trump and Republicans did was “really terrible” and the montage even showed Rep. Chip Roy who participated in the 2018 hearing stating that Trump and Republicans have done nothing of substance on immigration.

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar indicated she supports bipartisan immigration reform. Eight Republicans support the reform, but no one on the committee.

But Escobar was criticized for saying Republicans on the committee were “exploiting people’s pain for political purposes.”

That prompted commission chairman Jim Jordan to ask all the witnesses who had lost victims to illegal immigrants if they felt exploited, to which they all said no. Crime victims advocate April Aguirre told Escobar of her claim, “That’s insulting.”

Swalwell told those at the hearing who had lost loved ones about their perpetrators: “They should die in prison. And rot in hell. That’s what they deserve.”

But Swalwell didn’t back down, saying of Republicans on the committee, “They don’t mean it” about meaningful immigration reform. He even went so far as to show a photo of a tweet Jordan sent of Trump posing with a duck and a cat, referring to the accusation that illegal immigrants eat pets.

Democratic Congressman Luis Correa told Boudreaux that he lives in a region where agriculture and the economy depend on illegal immigrants. He believes that Boudreaux does not support mass deportations and does support work visas for illegal immigrants.

When asked if that was his position, Boudreaux said he approached the issue more from a law enforcement perspective and that “a lot of that is outside my purview,” though he did say he supported work visas for undocumented immigrants.

However, Boudreaux also said that if current laws were enforced, it would go a long way toward solving the problem.

“If you hold people accountable,” Boudreaux said, it would lead to a decrease in all the crimes he discussed when it comes to illegal immigration. “I don’t think it’s complicated.