Katie Britt explains her plan for building the border wall

January 28, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) spoke on the Senate floor in support of President Donald J. Trump's (R) efforts to restore the integrity of America's immigration system. This effort to pass meaningful, targeted immigration enforcement bills began last week with the passage of the Laken Riley Act.

"January 2025 has been a turning point for the United States of America," said Senator Britt on the Senate floor. " . . . Not only did President Trump turn our country's border and immigration policies around 180 degrees on his very first day, but, finally, at long last, Congress is working again. The House and Senate sent the strongest immigration enforcement legislation to the president's desk since 1996. After nearly a year of working to get the Laken Riley Act through, it is finally mere hours from becoming actual law. We are finally on our way to ensuring criminal illegal aliens are off our streets before they can commit the most heinous crimes imaginable . . . "

Senator Britt emphasized the president and Congress' quick action to implement commonsense immigration enforcement bills was an example of Republicans heeding calls from the American people to address the weak border policies of the previous Administration.

"The results of the November election were a signal from the people we represent to the lawmakers meant to act on their behalf," continued Brit. "They were a verdict from the American people that Washington had for too long become guilty of overlooking the problems that actually matter to the people we're here to work for," said Senator Britt. "With the Laken Riley Act, we've started to deliver on that verdict. But we're not done yet. The Laken Riley Act addresses the important problem: Criminal illegal aliens already inside our country. But interior immigration enforcement is only one aspect of the problem. There's another priority we must focus on: Preventing criminals from entering our country to begin with. That is why I've reintroduced the WALL Act."

Senator Britt introduced the WALL Act last week. Her legislation would appropriate $25 billion to finish building the southern border wall without raising taxes on U.S. citizens or increasing the national debt.

"It's long past time to finish construction of a wall on our southern border, and this bill would put us on the path to doing just that," said Britt. "It would appropriate funding necessary to finish the wall, and it would allow President Trump to do so without raising taxes on U.S. citizens or increasing our national debt by a single cent."

Under the WALL Act, construction would be funded by closing loopholes and eliminating taxpayer-funded entitlements and tax benefits for people who are in the country illegally. It would also impose monetary fines on people who either come into the country illegally or overstay their visas. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated in 2018 that enacting the provisions in this bill would save $33 billion over ten years.

"In fact, we'd fund the wall by fixing yet another issue with our immigration system: We would eliminate taxpayer-funded entitlements and tax benefits for illegal aliens," explained Britt. "Not only would taxpayers stop having to foot the bill for illegal aliens, but we would also close the loopholes illegal aliens take advantage of, Meaning the benefits intended for citizens and legal residents would truly only go to citizens and legal residents," continued Senator Britt. "Solving another problem, the WALL Act would impose monetary fines on illegal aliens and immigrants who overstay their visas. We'll finish building the wall. And we'll save money while we're at it."

"From the White House to both chambers of Congress, the Republican Party is committed to getting our country back on track, to responding to the demands the American people made of us this past November, securing our border, removing criminal illegal aliens from our streets, and providing a safe, orderly nation for the American people," said Britt. "There is no greater responsibility we have, no higher calling we can seek, than Making America Safe Again."

With Republicans now in control of the Senate, Britt is now the Chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. Senator Britt reaffirmed her commitment to getting the Trump Administration the resources it needs to fulfill its immigration enforcement and border security mission.

"We must fund construction of the border wall, but we can't just stop there," sad Britt. "I'm committed to ensuring the Trump Administration has the detention space they need to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets and providing funding for CBP and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, so these agencies have the personnel, resources, and technology necessary to fulfill their missions."

President Trump has issued an executive order asserting that the chaos on the southern border constitutes an invasion and that the U.S.A. has the inherent authority to decide who and what may cross the borders of the U.S.

"Over the last 4 years, at least 8 million illegal aliens were encountered along the southern border of the United States, and countless millions more evaded detection and illegally entered the United States," said President Trump. "The sheer number of aliens entering the United States has overwhelmed the system and rendered many of the INA's provisions ineffective, including those previously described that are intended to prevent aliens posing threats to public health, safety, and national security from entering the United States. As a result, millions of aliens who potentially pose significant threats to health, safety, and national security have moved into communities nationwide. This ongoing influx of illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States has placed significant costs and constraints upon the States, which have collectively spent billions of dollars in providing medical care and related human services and have spent considerable amounts on increased law enforcement costs associated with the presence of these illegal aliens within their boundaries."

"By the power vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, I have determined that the current situation at the southern border qualifies as an invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States," the President declared. "I hereby proclaim, pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), that the entry into the United States on or after the date of this order of aliens engaged in the invasion across the southern border is detrimental to the interests of the United States. I therefore direct that entry into the United States of such aliens be suspended until I issue a finding that the invasion at the southern border has ceased."

Katie Britt was elected to the Senate in 2022.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/guaranteeing-the-states-protection-against-invasion/