House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is threatening to withhold funding from a visa program that he said has led to the increased presence of organized crime from Chilean gangs that are “raiding” U.S. homes.
Speaking at a press conference in his home state of California on Friday, the GOP leader called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to suspend the Visa Waiver Program for Chile. McCarthy said that program has allowed for soaring levels of “burglary tourism” where thousands of dollars worth of stolen items are laundered through China, and the profits of these raids end back up in South America.
Out of 40 countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program, Chile does not allow for criminal background checks for people traveling to the U.S., McCarthy said.
“Now what we are finding, with more than 350,000 people from Chile coming here in the last year out of a country of only 19 million, organized crime is raiding our homes. They’re sophisticated. They don’t come and break in the front door,” McCarthy said.
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“They put cellphone jamming, knock off your Wi-Fi so your home security doesn’t work. They enter on the second story… And they raid the house, stealing the safe. They wear uniforms and camouflage outfits. And then they work with China putting the money back into South America.”
He thanked Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer for briefing lawmakers on the matter, and accused Mayorkas of ignoring this problem.
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“Secretary [Mayorkas] has ignored the safety of Americans. If you’ve ever been robbed in your house, you lose more than just your property. You lose the sense of safety,” McCarthy said.
“When we mark up appropriations coming in the next weeks, we will put a provision in there – because Secretary Mayorkas will not act – that we will not allow…
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