Rep. Ashley Hinson praises immigration crackdown, says USDA should move to Iowa

Both on the campaign trail and after her re-election this fall, Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, emphasized border security and cracking down on illegal immigration as her top priorities in Congress.

“I think it was very clear to me that my priority No. 1 is going to be deporting people who are criminals and who are dangerous in our community,” Hinson told reporters Thursday.

When asked about President Donald Trump’s plans to carry out the largest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in U.S. history, Hinson has said the immediate focus should be on those with criminal records.

Asked about recent arrests of undocumented migrants without criminal records amid ramped up immigration enforcement in the last week, Hinson echoed the White House and commended the work of the Trump administration’s border czar Tom Homan.

“Well, they did enter the country illegally, so they did break the law,” Hinson told reporters during the Thursday conference call.

Entering the United States without authorization can result in both civil and criminal penalties. Federal law, though, generally treats it as a civil violation unless previously removed or convicted.

Those detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement away from the U.S.-Mexico border also have a right to a hearing with an immigration judge to determine if they can stay in the U.S. or not.

According to Axios, less than 0.5 percent of the 1.8 million cases in immigration courts during the past fiscal year included deportation orders for alleged crimes other than entering the U.S. illegally.

Hinson said Trump and his administration are doing what voters elected them to do.

“Frankly, after millions upon millions of people coming across our southern border, I'm hearing from Iowans, that they're like 'rah-rah, go ahead, keep this up' because that is exactly what they voted for in the mandate that we have to deliver on," Hinson said.

Since retaking office, Trump and his administration has hit the ground running to carry out his top campaign promise, declaring a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border and signing a flurry of sweeping executive orders limiting immigration and asylum.

Federal immigration authorities have made more than 3,500 arrests since Trump took office nearly two weeks ago, including high-profile raids in New York City, Chicago and elsewhere that rounded up both violent offenders and those without criminal records.

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NBC News reported that of the 1,179 individuals arrested by ICE officials last Sunday, nearly half — 566 of the migrants — appear to have no prior criminal record besides entering the country illegally.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week all immigrants living in the country illegally are criminals.

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“I know the last administration didn’t see it that way, so it’s a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal. But that’s exactly what they are,” Leavitt said.

She declined to say if all the undocumented immigrants had criminal records.

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Moving federal agencies out of D.C.

Hinson also recently introduced legislation — the Strategic Withdrawal of Agencies for Meaningful Placement (SWAMP) Act — that would move federal agency headquarters outside of Washington, D.C.

Hinson said her proposal — cosponsored with Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine — would bring agency headquarters closer to people whose lives are most impacted by federal decision-making.

For example, Hinson said Iowa — the nation’s top corn producing state — could be ideal to be the next headquarters for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Too often, federal bureaucrats do issue one-size-fits-all regulations,” Hinson said. “A prime example of the is Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), without considering their real-world impact. … Again, we don’t need these distant bureaucrats dictating policy from afar. We can drain the swamp, move these federal agencies out of it and closer to the people.”

Fellow Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is championing similar legislation in the Senate.

Hinson’s proposal would prohibit new construction, major renovations, leases or renewal of leases of non-national security-related agencies’ headquarters located in the greater D.C. area and establish competitive bidding processes to move agency headquarters out of D.C.

That would include weighing whether a state has expertise in carrying out activities substantially similar to the mission and goals of the agency, and the extent to which the relocation would impact the economy and workforce development of the state or city where agency offices would be relocated, according to the bill.

Grant funding freeze

Amid confusion over a freeze on federal grants and loans ordered by Trump, Hinson told reporters she intends to continue to work to prevent "woke spending sprees" by the federal government.

Trump's budget office this week rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country and after a federal judge temporarily paused the order to give time to consider legal arguments.

But the White House also said a “federal funding freeze” remains in “full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented” to give agencies time to review programs for their compliance with Trump’s agenda.

“There was a lot of fearmongering this week about the order,” Hinson said, echoing Trump administration officials who said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans, including Medicare, Social Security, student loans and food stamps, would not be affected.

“The point is to ensure that all federal funding is really in line with what the American people voted for and to end the abuse of taxpayer dollars on woke priorities that we saw go rampant under the Biden administration,” Hinson said.

Nonprofits providing critical services, such as housing, food assistance, education, health care and research, warned the freeze would put their operations at risk.

“This threatens not only nonprofit operations but the well-being of thousands of Iowans who depend on these programs,” the Iowa Nonprofit Alliance wrote in an email to members and supporters.

Hinson said her office is working with Iowa nonprofits, cities, school districts and other impacted stakeholders to clarify any confusion.

“My approach to everybody is if it’s a good use of taxpayer money, it’s going to be allowed to move forward,” she said. “I’m going to continue operating as I always have. I always work to get targeted investment back to Iowa while working to prevent woke spending sprees.”

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com