U.S. Representative Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, stated on Tuesday that he supports denaturalization, prosecution, and deportation of individuals who enter the country illegally and commit crimes, arguing they should be imprisoned and removed from the United States.
Ogles’ remarks focused on immigration enforcement and what he described as widespread theft of taxpayer money. He asserted that the Justice Department must be better equipped and funded to pursue fraud cases.
“We have to have the DOJ equipped and fund the DOJ to go after these criminals, because you’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, being stolen from the American taxpayer,” he said.
Ogles also detailed his broader immigration agenda, supporting legislation to curb family-based immigration. He argued that the government should adopt a more aggressive approach toward individuals who enter the country without authorization.
“You’ve got to denaturalize, you’ve got to deport. You’ve got to deport, deport, deport,” Ogles stated.
“That’s why I have the Assimilation Act, which brings an end to chain migration,” he said. “So instead of having, you know, 700,000 people a year claiming that they’re a relative of someone who is here, we cut that out and only immediate family” are allowed in the U.S.”
“So maybe 50,000 would get in, and even then, they would have to justify why they’re here,” he added. “And if you commit a crime, we’re going to put you in prison, and we’re going to deport you. I don’t know why it has to be any more complicated than that.”
Recent federal cases in California underscore the kind of fraud Ogles referenced. On March 10, the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego charged over 50 defendants in a yearslong crackdown on theft rings that stole public assistance benefits from low-income families, with more than $310 million taken from California EBT beneficiaries between June 2022 and January 2026.
In Los Angeles, federal prosecutors arrested the executive director of a South Los Angeles charity on January 23 for wire fraud, alleging he obtained $23 million in public funds intended to combat homelessness but pocketed at least $10 million.
