{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-blasts-biden-and-liberal-dark-money-groups-moving-illegal-aliens-montana", "Zinke blasts Biden and liberal dark money groups moving illegal aliens into Montana", "2024-05-02", "2024", "2024-05", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Ryan K. Zinke", "Z000018", "zinke.house.gov", "zinke", "https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - According to the Flathead County Sherriff, a group of illegal immigrants from Venezuela contacted the sheriff\u2019s office seeking accommodations on the evening of May 1. Like the some of the other 7.3 million illegal immigrants who passed through Joe Biden\u2019s open southern border, they were given a plane ticket to New York before being transported to Kalispell. Unprompted by local law enforcement, the dark money nonprofit Valley Neighbors, picked up the illegal immigrants and provided hotel arrangements in Kalispell.\n\n\u201cThe only way an illegal immigrant from South America ends up in Montana is if a \u201cnonprofit\u201d connected with the Biden Administration moves them there. They didn\u2019t walk across to Babb,\u201d said Rep. Zinke. \u201cMontana law enforcement, schools, hospitals and safety nets are being stressed to their max because of the Biden border crisis. I\u2019m in contact with local law enforcement, county commissioners and the Attorney General and will do anything in my power to protect Montanans. Government-funded orgs complaining about drug overdoses and human trafficking fail to recognize it\u2019s their own fault when they are flying illegal immigrants tied in with cartels and coyotes. It\u2019s a national security risk. It\u2019s unacceptable and absolutely needs to end now.\u201d\n\nFlathead County Commissioner Randy Brodehl said, \u201cThis instance is not unique; it is a continuation of a trend that has increased in both frequency and intensity over the last two years. Flathead County does not have the recourses of large sanctuary cities and cannot sustain the volume of people coming in illegally. We cannot feed, house, or facilitate the transportation for these individuals. Why they are being sent to Kalispell at all is beyond me.\u201d\n\nFlathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said, \u201cI think we\u2019re being targeted. This is just one example of the increase Flathead County Sheriff\u2019s Office has seen with individuals who have no residency status in the U.S.. My job, my priority, is the people of the community that I was elected to protect. We don\u2019t have the budget to keep up with the needs that come along with the growing undocumented population, and we don\u2019t have the resources to hold them accountable our laws. My worry is that our ability to protect the citizens of Flathead County will be limited by the strain of the undocumented population.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:01:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-blasts-biden-and-liberal-dark-money-groups-moving-illegal-aliens-montana"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4278418384492397, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}