A Republican congressman made waves at a House Judiciary Committee meeting when he asked one simple question about an illegal immigrant who had been deported six times.
On Wednesday, the committee held a hearing to discuss the security of the southern border. Texas Rep. Troy Nehls tore into the Biden administration’s irresponsible border policies that have allowed dangerous people to cross the border and harm American citizens.
As an example, he held up a poster board with an image of Marlon Alexander Zavala-Alcantara, a deportee who was arrested in 2020 after he allegedly struck and killed an elderly woman with a vehicle, according to Breitbart.
At the time, Nehls was serving as sheriff of Fort Bend County, Texas, where the crime took place.
He told Breitbart, “This is a direct result of Congress’ unwillingness to take action to secure our border. … God Bless President Donald Trump for what he has done to secure the border despite total resistance from the Democrat-led House of Representatives.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Zavala-Alcantara was an illegal immigrant from Honduras who had been deported six times. Breitbart reported that his previous deportations were related to charges of DWI, aggravated battery and illegal attempts to re-enter the country after removal.
“We are sick of telling these stories. We are sick of having families come into our offices and explain that their loved ones were killed by people that shouldn’t be here in the first place,” Nehls said on Wednesday.
Now that he is a congressman, Nehls has a serious question for the people whose policies allowed Zavala-Alcantara to re-enter the United States: “How does a guy get deported more than once?”
How does a guy get deported more than once?
This guy has been deported six previous times. pic.twitter.com/WEu6HGXBsP
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) February 2, 2023
The answer to Nehls’ question is actually quite a simple one: lax border enforcement that allows anyone and everyone to stream into the country.
Of Zavala-Alcantara’s six previous deportations, one was under a Republican administration, that of George W. Bush, and the other five were under the administration of Barack Obama, when lax border policies led to a surge in illegal immigration.
This refusal to enforce border laws allowed illegal immigrants like Zavala-Alcantara to repeatedly enter the country and was one of the reasons why Donald Trump’s promise to build a wall at the southern border was so popular.
Now, the Biden administration has returned to the same reckless policies, and dangerous criminals — including individuals on the FBI’s terror watchlist — are once again being allowed to stream over the border.
Nehls is right — the refusal of the Biden administration to enforce the law is putting Americans at risk.
Dangerous people are being allowed into the country and they are killing our citizens. It is time for our government to stop the madness at the border and keep Americans safe.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.