Border Security

Promise Made. Promise Kept. 

My Republican colleagues and I committed to secure our borders and hold criminals accountable. 

We kept this promise when the first bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025 was the Laken Riley Act. 

H.R. 29 was introduced in response to the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Ibarra was arrested multiple times prior to the death of Riley, including shoplifting in 2023, but was not detained by ICE. Despite passing the House last Congress with bipartisan support, the Democrat-held Senate failed to pass this important bill. 

What a difference a year makes - the Republican-led Senate passed this bill and it was signed into law by President Trump on January 29, 2025!

The House has also passed, H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will provide critical resources to ensure our communities are safe and we permanently secure our borders.  

• The One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides funding to complete 701 miles of primary wall, construct 900 miles of river barriers and 629 miles of secondary barriers, and replace 141 miles of vehicle and pedestrian barriers.

• The One Big Beautiful Bill Act gives U.S. Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agencies the resources needed to detain and deport illegal aliens.

• The One Big Beautiful Bill Act invests in our United States Coast Guard to support their missions to stop illegal drugs and migrants from entering our country, search for and rescue boaters, ensure American sovereignty in the Arctic, and protect our national security.