New bipartisan border bill introduced in Senate after Trump’s election victory

A FIRST ON FOX: Senator Jon Ossoff D-Ga. and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday to intensify federal investigations into human smugglers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

proposed legislationCalled the Border Smuggling Prevention Act, it aims to increase penalties for human traffickers by updating federal sentencing guidelines to better reflect the full number of people smuggled.

“Criminals and traffickers who exploit and traffic people across our southern border must pay a heavy price. They threaten our national security and exploit victims of human trafficking,” Ossoff said in a statement. he said..

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In recent years, federal authorities As human smuggling operations increasingly shift from humans to transnational criminal networks, an increase in the kidnapping and extortion of immigrants has been reported in US border cities.

Ossoff’s office said current federal rules do not adequately take into account the exact number of people abducted, instead allocating sentencing enhancements based on the broad range of people abducted.

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Additionally, the bill increases sentencing levels for cases in which victims suffer bodily harm or death, with sentencing increases depending on the severity of injuries sustained. According to the text of the bill, bodily injury increases by two levels per person, serious bodily injury by four levels, life-threatening or permanent injury by six levels, and each death by 10 levels.

“Cartels on our southern border kidnap and exploit innocent men, women and children every day,” Blackburn said in a statement. he said. “Our bill would modernize federal criminal law to better hold these traffickers accountable and ensure that penalties for these crimes reflect every person these criminals injure or kill.”

The bill comes as follows President-elect Trump He promised to eliminate illegal immigration and the crisis at the southern border while making historic gains among Democratic districts.

Democrats have struggled to combat illegal immigration this election cycle, with Vice President Kamala Harris running for president.

This year, the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General sent a report to Congress finding that more than 32,000 unaccompanied illegal alien children failed to show up for immigration court hearings in the past five years. Immigration and Customs Enforcement He could not explain the location of all the unseen ones.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

Original article source: New bipartisan border bill introduced in Senate after Trump’s election victory