'Get geared up' because 'ICE is coming,' says leading House GOP member

"ICE is coming," he said. "You will very soon be given the opportunity to join a task force with ICE in your state and your community to remove criminal illegals."

"This is going to be an ongoing operation," he said, adding that the subcommittee will also be involved in the effort, which he described as a "restoration of law and order in our country."

Higgins vowed that "throughout this Congress, we'll tackle these issues and ensure that President Trump has all the tools and resources he needs to address rampant crime."  

Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society and one of the experts testifying during the hearing, said that under the Biden administration, 14 million illegal immigrants entered the country. He said that "if only .5 percent" of these illegals are involved or tied to criminal organizations, "then we are facing a crime, terror contingent inside the United States that is the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps combined."

"If that's not a national security emergency, I don't know what is," he commented.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri of Pinellas County, Florida, testified during the hearing that, in light of the criminal illegal threat in his community, his department is voluntarily participating in ICE's 287(g) program, which authorizes local law enforcement to assist with certain immigration actions such as detainment and processing.

Though his office participates in this program, he called for Congress to pass federal legislation to authorize all local jails to hold criminal illegals for ICE based solely on immigration detainers.

"In other words, give the detainers force of law as opposed to simply making them an ask with no teeth," he explained. "This is a big deal to fix, and it should be done as soon as possible because it would mean that criminal illegals, like the one I mentioned, will be deported directly from jail and not released back into the community to commit more crime."