Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders promotes the "Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act."
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NewsTranscript
00:00Morning. Thank you all for joining us here this morning. I want to give a
00:04special thank you to Representative Cavanaugh and President Bart Hester.
00:09Unfortunately, Bart couldn't be here with us today, but the two of them are
00:13leading this legislation that we're announcing and very grateful for their
00:17partnership and hard work to get this done and through the Legislature. I'll
00:24start by giving a brief update on our recovery efforts from this weekend's
00:28tornadoes. I was in Cave City in Paragould this Saturday to support
00:33impacted Arkansans and see how the state could help those who were impacted.
00:39Tragically, we lost three Arkansans this weekend, with several dozen others
00:44who were injured. Our prayers are with the families of those who were impacted
00:48by this storm, and the state will continue to work closely with them over
00:53the course of the next several weeks. I've declared a state of emergency and
00:58released a quarter million dollars from our disaster relief fund and
01:01deployed state police and National Guardsmen to help those areas. I've also
01:06spoken with President Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and we'll
01:10continue to work with our federal partners to help in those relief
01:15efforts. This is not going to be a quick recovery. It will take time, but
01:21our message is one that I learned from my dad. We will take care of the people
01:24first and the paperwork second. And so if you are in need, please get word to
01:31us through your local officials. You can also go to help Arkansas dot com to ask
01:37for assistance or off also to offer assistance, and we will get you help as
01:41quickly as possible. Our number one goal will be to take care of those who have
01:47been so tragically impacted over the last several days. Now, moving to very
01:53different topic, but also focused on taking care of and protecting our
01:58citizens. Today we're announcing the Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act.
02:03This is our state's plan to hold violent criminal illegal immigrants
02:07accountable for their crimes. President Trump is cleaning up Joe Biden's
02:12disaster at the southern border, and Arkansas will have his back. Over the
02:17past four years, we saw the most catastrophic border crisis in American
02:21history. Day after day, month after month, millions of unvetted illegal
02:27immigrants entered the United States from practically every country on Earth.
02:32There were more than 10 million illegal border crossings, more than three times
02:37every man, woman and child here in the state of Arkansas. Thousands of those
02:42illegal immigrants were known criminals, and hundreds were from the terrorist
02:46watch list. I saw the border crisis firsthand when I visited with Arkansas
02:51National Guardsmen stationed at the Del Rio sector in 2023. They were there is
02:57one of the two missions we sent to the southern border during my first two
03:00years in office. On paper, the statistics are staggering. In person,
03:06the situation is even worse. Our guardsmen, our heroes were put in 100
03:11degree heat every day working to keep our border secure. I heard from Border
03:16Patrol agents managing facilities designed to hold 1000 illegals that
03:21were packed with twice that number. I listened to law enforcement talk about
03:25pulling bodies from the Rio Grande who were victims of violent cartels. I
03:31personally watched hundreds of illegal border crossers enter our country as we
03:36stood there. Luckily, America now has a president who takes border security
03:41seriously and has personally overseen an essential shutdown of the southern
03:46border. Illegal crossings at the Del Rio sector that I visited are now down
03:5099% and illegal border crossings are at the lowest level ever recorded.
03:57Unfortunately, there are still millions of illegal immigrants in our country.
04:02We've seen what happens when Arkansans fall victim to violent criminal
04:06illegals. Just in January, state troopers arrested an illegal who was
04:10on the run after striking a law enforcement officer. We arrested a gang
04:15member from El Salvador last November and most tragic of all, this past
04:21September, Little Rock nurse Jennifer and Morton was on her way to work when
04:25she was killed by an illegal immigrant who was deported during the first Trump
04:29term and later came back and was driving drunk. These crimes didn't have
04:34to happen. Violent criminal illegals have no place in Arkansas and under
04:40this administration, we will make sure that they are held accountable. The
04:44Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act will slap enhanced penalties on illegal
04:48immigrants who commit additional crimes while in our state will expand our
04:53sanctuary city band so that no place in Arkansas, including unincorporated
04:58areas, areas and counties can be a safe harbor for illegals. And we will
05:04mandate that Arkansas law enforcement participate in the federal 287 program
05:09so that we cooperate better with ice and expedite deportations. After only a
05:15few months in office, President Trump has brought law and order back to our
05:19country, and Arkansas will continue to partner with them and help lead the way.
05:24I want to again thank the legislators who worked so hard to draft this
05:27legislation, and I want to especially thank our law enforcement for their
05:31support. You're on the front lines of defending our state, and we appreciate
05:35all that you do to keep us safe on a daily basis. I'll now turn it over to
05:40Representative Cavanaugh and then come back up and take a few questions. Thank
05:43you.
05:50Thank you, Governor. Appreciate your leadership in this. Um, when this bill
05:55was first brought to me, you know, had a lot of people ask me why. Why is this
05:59important? Well, it's important for the reasons the governor just laid out for
06:03us. We have been under attack. We are changing, but we need to keep in mind
06:09that we have to keep our cans and safe. And that's what this is really designed
06:12to do, is to keep our cans and safe. It will also give law enforcement the
06:17tools that they need to be able to compete to actually assist and help
06:21with ice. And it will also help us be able to understand that the failed
06:25sanctuary policies that we've seen throughout the country won't be here in
06:29Arkansas. And with that, Governor, I really appreciate your leadership.
06:39Thank you. We'll take a couple questions if there are any.
06:45Oh, you answer.
06:48Yes. Senator Hester, who couldn't be here today, has filed it. I think it's
06:52S. B. 4 28. I think
06:57my understanding is as soon as he gets here, he'll he'll go through the normal
07:01process and he'll get it. He'll get it ran.
07:10We know that there are thousands of illegals that are here in our state
07:14illegally, but one is too many. When they are a violent criminal, we want
07:20to make sure that those individuals are not operating in our community. And
07:23it's one of the reasons this legislation is important. We've seen
07:26multiple instances, several of which I named in the opening comments where
07:33those individuals hurt and impacted Arkansans. And that's what we're trying
07:37to prevent and make sure don't take place.
07:47I can get back to you on that on a specific number.
07:50Yeah, I will sign that as it hits my desk. I think at some point here today
07:58or tomorrow.
08:00Great. Thank you all so much for being here.