In this episode, Chris Chmielenski, President of the Immigration Accountability Project, joins Jenny Beth Martin to discuss why proof of U.S. citizenship is essential to protect election integrity. Chris explains the dangers of amnesty proposals in Congress, the fight for the SAVE Act, and how grassroots activists are pushing back against noncitizen voting and open borders. Learn how immigration policy, border security, and election laws are tied together—and what you can do to help secure America’s future.
In this episode, Chris Chmielenski, President of the Immigration Accountability Project, joins Jenny Beth Martin to discuss why proof of U.S. citizenship is essential to protect election integrity. Chris explains the dangers of amnesty proposals in Congress, the fight for the SAVE Act, and how grassroots activists are pushing back against noncitizen voting and open borders. Learn how immigration policy, border security, and election laws are tied together—and what you can do to help secure America’s future.
X/Twitter: @I_A_Project | @jennybethm
Website: https://iaproject.org/
Chris Chmielenski (00:00):
When members of Congress get a lot of noise, they start to pay attention. And so a lot of them on this particular issue, they're just not hearing a whole lot. So this is helping to drive that activism and those communications towards Congress so that when you all arrive on September 10th, there will be a lengthy list of people from across the country that are demanding that they pass the Save act.
Narrator (00:22):
Keeping our Republic is on the line and it requires Patriots with great passion, dedication, and eternal vigilance to preserve our freedoms. Jenny Beth Martin is the co-founder of Tea Party Patriots. She's an author of filmmaker and one of time magazine's most influential people in the world. But the title she is most proud of is Mom To Her Boy, girl Twins. She has been at the forefront fighting to protect America's core principles for more than a decade. Welcome to the Jenny Beth Show.
Jenny Beth Martin (00:55):
Today we're recording from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We just finished our stop for the only Citizens Vote bus tour in Louisiana, and we're headed to Montgomery, Alabama as soon as we finish this interview. But before we did the interview, I wanted to sit down with Chris Linsky, who is the president of the Immigration Accountability Project. He's been with us for the first week and a half of the bus tour, and I wanted you to hear his thoughts about what we're doing, why we're doing it, what it's like with Life on the Road, and then a little bit about the Immigration Accountability Project. You've already heard about it from Rosemary Jinks. He works very closely with Rosemary and Chris, thank you so much for being with us today.
Chris Chmielenski (01:32):
Thanks for having me on.
Jenny Beth Martin (01:34):
So what'd you think about being on the road?
Chris Chmielenski (01:36):
It's been great. I really didn't know what to expect. I've actually done grassroots organizing for 15 years, but most of it was from behind the scenes. So this was the first time I really got an opportunity to go out and when we were offered the chance to join the bus tour and travel the country with two party patriots, we jumped on it. It's been great getting out there, seeing all the people that come out, the supporters, the enthusiasm that's out there all trying to do the same thing, and that's the pass to save act and end non-citizen voting.
Jenny Beth Martin (02:07):
Isn't it interesting how when we stop and we're talking to people at hotels or gas stations or in restaurants and they say, what's up on the bus and we explain it, they all just go, seriously, it's not this way already.
Chris Chmielenski (02:19):
It's
Jenny Beth Martin (02:20):
Kind of an interesting reaction. What have you thought? We will talk about the reaction from the people who were there for us, but just the random people we've seen along the way.
Chris Chmielenski (02:28):
Yeah, same sort of reaction. I have spent almost all of the time on the bus or a couple of different ways that we could travel to all these different stops, but I kind of figured, well, if I'm on a bus tour, I want to ride on the bus and experience the bus, but so we've had to stop at gas stations and restaurants and everything while we've been on the road. The response has been great. And the polling that you've done, what's the show? 87% of Americans support this, so it's popular. Even the folks that might be on the other side of the aisle from us on most other issues, this is something they can get on board with. We even had a few counter processors that we talked with in New Mexico, and I was even chatting with one of them on the side and eventually got 'em to agree with us that this is the right thing to ensure proof of us citizenship while registering to
Jenny Beth Martin (03:14):
Vote. And we can disagree on a lot of other issues and in America, boy,
Chris Chmielenski (03:19):
But
Jenny Beth Martin (03:19):
On this, it seems like it's one that most people agree with. And then when they realize it isn't a law already, they're like, well, what can I do to help? Let me know. It's just really interesting to see the response not from the activists, which we'll talk about in just a second, but the average public who maybe isn't engaged is not an
Chris Chmielenski (03:38):
Activist, and it's been good driving down the highway. You got lots of people honking their horns at you and giving you fist bumps and things like that. So it's just been great. And again, I think I've been at eight of the stops with you most of the stops. And again, just to see the turnout, the number of people that are supportive of the issue, the enthusiasm, the willingness to take part of it, it's been very encouraging, especially for us that follow what's happening in DC every single day. And just the stalemate and the swamp in general and just watching nothing really move there. So it's exciting to see the sort of energy out in the rest of America,
Jenny Beth Martin (04:16):
And I've enjoyed that part of it a lot. And then of course, the grassroots activists and the elected officials who are showing up, they are so supportive and they're coming out. Chris, we were out, well, we were in an airplane hanger in Arizona, thankfully,
Chris Chmielenski (04:32):
An outdoor airplane hanger.
Jenny Beth Martin (04:34):
Yeah, an outdoor airplane hanger, but we're in the shade and there was air conditioning blowing inside, but all the doors were open, so
Chris Chmielenski (04:39):
It was
Jenny Beth Martin (04:39):
Really hot. And in New Mexico we were outside. So we've been outside in the hot desert sun and people are still showing up.
Chris Chmielenski (04:51):
They were
Jenny Beth Martin (04:52):
Enthusiastic to be there.
Chris Chmielenski (04:54):
We did the sign waving in Tucson, Arizona after the event, and it was 112, I think out in the parking lot. So it is just been great that the people have, despite the heat,
Jenny Beth Martin (05:06):
They've
Chris Chmielenski (05:06):
Come out and support this in the few outdoor types events that we have done.
Jenny Beth Martin (05:10):
And they're very enthusiastic. They want to know what all they can do to help, which if you're listening or watching right now, you can go to demand only citizens vote.com to get involved and get engaged. And the big call to action we've been giving people is to sign the petition, circulate the petition to friends and family, so we can turn those in Washington DC on September 10th.
Chris Chmielenski (05:33):
And that's so important because we've seen, and through my experiences in the past, we know that when members of Congress get a lot of noise, they start to pay attention. And so a lot of them on this particular issue, they're just not hearing a whole lot. So this is helping to drive that activism and those communications towards Congress so that when you all arrive on September 10th, there will be a lengthy list of people from across the country that are demanding that they pass the Save Act.
Jenny Beth Martin (06:01):
And that is the goal. And we're going to keep making noise, keep getting local media. We've had a lot of local media showing up, and it is just been a really good, very positive experience. So your group, the Immigration Accountability Project, you're what, two years old now?
Chris Chmielenski (06:20):
We started about right. Almost exactly two years old now. But the main partners in it, we've been working on the immigration issue for decades now, myself, 17 years. So almost two full decades on it. And then Rosemary Jinx, you mentioned earlier, she's been working on it for over 30 years. So we've got a lot of experience working on this issue and just decided to approach it from a different angle. And that's why we set out to create the Immigration Accountability Project.
Jenny Beth Martin (06:49):
Well, all I know is that we would probably have amnesty if it were not for the work that you guys and Steven Miller have done to lead the way and alert the public about every time that it's like Whack-a-Mole. So every time that mole pops up, it's ugly head and we have to whack it back down. And a Tea Party, Patriots action really is engaged in doing all we can to help stop it. But we lean on you guys to make sure we understand the ins and outs of the legislation.
Chris Chmielenski (07:20):
We try to provide the policy. We've got two lawyers who've been working on the immigration issue again for decades. Decades of experience. I think Rosemary has the immigration code memorized and can recite it in her sleep probably. So that's what we try to do is just explain to people in layman's terms what these bills these proposals are going to do, and then give it to folks like Tea Party Patriots who then can run with a grassroots mobilization to try to stop something or to pass something like the Save Act in this particular case. But we formed in late 2023 and then right away in the spring of 2024, it was actually in January, is when the Chris Murphy Langford border security bill that dropped. And while that wasn't an Amity bill, it would've just created such a horrible situation, essentially codified almost everything that was happening under the Biden administration. We were able to play a role in that and stop it. And we've just been, as you said, playing whack-a-mole ever since.
Jenny Beth Martin (08:21):
Well, and it's really important. Let's just take a step back for a moment. You guys helped stop it and it would have codified, as you just said, codified what Biden and his administration was doing, which means it would've changed the law and President Trump would not have been able to secure the border.
Chris Chmielenski (08:38):
Exactly. And that was the most important part of it. This would've said, no, the president can't actually just shut it off, which is what we saw President Trump do
Jenny Beth Martin (08:47):
Within
Chris Chmielenski (08:48):
One week. And remember in his state of the Union address, his final State of the Union address, president Biden said we to have legislation in order to stop the flow.
Jenny Beth Martin (08:58):
No,
Chris Chmielenski (08:58):
We didn't. We found out all you needed was an administration who was willing to do it.
Jenny Beth Martin (09:02):
Right. An administration who is willing to follow the law.
Chris Chmielenski (09:06):
Correct.
Jenny Beth Martin (09:06):
That's it. And for years, we've had administrations who've found ways to kind of get around the law and maneuver things and ignore the law and allow people to come in the country illegally. And now we finally, thankfully have a president who understands all those shenanigans and has stopped it this time.
Chris Chmielenski (09:24):
Exactly, exactly. But unfortunately, we still have some folks in Congress. You mentioned the amnesty. So
Chris Chmielenski (09:30):
I'd be remiss for not mentioning the fact that just last month, Republicans, actually a hand about a dozen Republicans led by Maria Salazar, congresswoman from South Florida, introduced an amnesty bill called the Dignity Act. So this would grant amnesty would get grant amnesty with citizenship to about two and a half million illegal aliens, and then another 10 million would get a presence amnesty. So they would get to stay here indefinitely and just not necessarily have an opportunity to citizenship. At least right away. This would be detrimental to the United States and completely goes against everything that this administration has accomplished in its first six months.
Jenny Beth Martin (10:09):
If you were here illegally, why would you even leave or self deport at that
Chris Chmielenski (10:12):
Point? Exactly.
Jenny Beth Martin (10:13):
Because you think you might be getting amnesty, you might as well just stay.
Chris Chmielenski (10:16):
That's exactly it. And while we've shut down the border, part of the reason why we shut down the border is also because of the rhetoric that you've heard coming from the White House since they took office in January. So people know if they come here, there's no longer a reward to get here. But if they know that amnesty is back on the table, you might start to see those border numbers tick back up again.
Jenny Beth Martin (10:36):
I think we would because that's what happens every single time America starts talking about it below the border, it is communicated, whether it's through the cartels or other networks, or they just hear about it from their friends who are in America already and they start moving back north to our country again.
Chris Chmielenski (10:54):
That's right. That's right.
Jenny Beth Martin (10:57):
We cannot have that. And the fact that a dozen or so Republicans signed onto it drives me crazy, but have to make sure that when Congress comes back in session, they're not doing anything like pulling a discharge petition to try to pass it.
Chris Chmielenski (11:12):
Exactly. Exactly. In addition to that, we have President Trump. The White House has done such a great job. The full administration with DHS as well, Stephen Miller, deputy Chief of Staff, as you mentioned, and Tom Holman, borders are, they've done such a great job of shutting down the border, but they've done it all through executive actions. And unfortunately what you can do through executive action, you can undo through executive action. So the other thing we're going to be fighting for this fall is also is the reintroduction of HR two, which was called the Secure The Border Act passed in the previous Congress, try to get that reintroduced again in the House of Representatives and hopefully to the floor passed through the house and moved over to the Senate.
Jenny Beth Martin (11:52):
Tell people what's in that.
Chris Chmielenski (11:53):
Sure. HR two would codify most of the actions that the Trump administration has taken to stop the border. Things like remain in Mexico, if you come here illegally, but try to claim asylum, you're not going to get to wait in the United States until your asylum court date occurs maybe 5, 6, 7 years down the line. You're going to have to go back and wait forward in Mexico. It's going to expand expedited removal. So if you come across the border illegally under current law and you're apprehended within a certain period of time within a certain distance from the border, we can avoid all the court hearings and just send you back where you came from. It's called expedited removal. It would expand the use of expedited removal. It would close up some of the loopholes. One of the other issues that we see with asylum is that the first step to claiming asylum here in the United States is passing a credible fear test and the credible fear test, in order to pass it, all you really have to say is, I fear for my life.
Chris Chmielenski (12:46):
If I'm returned back home, boom. You pass a credible fear test and you get put into asylum proceedings. Well, we've seen when they actually get before a judge, their case actually gets before a judge. They either don't show up for their trial, so they're denied asylum or they do show up and they're still denied because their claim isn't strong enough to receive, to reach the bar to receive asylum. So what it would also do is strengthen the credible fear test to say that you're more than likely to receive asylum if you should actually have your case heard by a judge. So it would raise that bar for credible fear that would also reduce the number of people that are using that loophole to get into the country. And then another important thing that it would do is it would reform the way that we handle unaccompanied alien children. So this is a group, a lot of 'em are teenagers, we call 'em children, but they're mostly young men
Chris Chmielenski (13:39):
And some women, but mostly young men that are coming across as UACs. They're coming across the border under the age of 18 unaccompanied and under current law, if they're not from a contiguous country, Canada or Mexico, then they have to be turned over to HHS who then resettles them to a sponsor somewhere in the country. And what did we see under the Biden administration? They lost hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied alien children while in their care. We found some of 'em working on a pot farm out in California about a month and a half ago. So it would also reform that so that UACs coming in from non-contiguous countries would receive the same treatment and can be returned safely back to their home countries.
Jenny Beth Martin (14:19):
I think it's really important to talk about that pot farm in California, these were kids working, we're opposed to child labor and we have laws to prevent child labor from children from being abused through the labor and
Chris Chmielenski (14:35):
Workforce.
Jenny Beth Martin (14:36):
And I don't think that any of those laws were being followed
Chris Chmielenski (14:41):
And they were teenagers, they should be in school, they should be in school, and maybe they were going to school. But this is what happened under the previous administration. You had UACs come in, they turned 'em over to HHS and then HHS sent 'em off to sponsors. They didn't vet the sponsors. They didn't ensure that the sponsors were actually family members. They did none of that type of vetting. And this is what happens. It endangers the children that you're turning over to other folks.
Jenny Beth Martin (15:06):
And I think that sometimes people don't understand, they think they're being compassionate because they're taking care of the children, but really they're not taking care of the children.
Chris Chmielenski (15:15):
Exactly.
Jenny Beth Martin (15:16):
Depending on the government to take care of the children, but the government doesn't. It isn't equipped
Chris Chmielenski (15:21):
To, it didn't have the resources. Right. And of course you had some government officials under the Biden administration screaming for more funding. If you give us more funding, we can take better care of them. But is that really the answer? Shouldn't we be discouraging them? Because at the end of the day, in order to get here, they were trafficked by the drug cartels across Mexico, possibly across the dairy and pass as well. Very dangerous areas. Who knows what they were subjected to while they were making that journey. And part of the reason why they're put into they're trafficked for labor is because when they get here, they owe debts back to those coyotes that trafficked them here. So it's just a horrible situation. We should be discouraging it from happening in the first place, not encouraging it with more
Jenny Beth Martin (16:06):
Funding. Right. So HR two would help plan down on that.
Chris Chmielenski (16:10):
Correct.
Jenny Beth Martin (16:11):
Is it still called HR two in this congress or it
Chris Chmielenski (16:13):
Hasn't been introduced
Jenny Beth Martin (16:14):
Yet?
Chris Chmielenski (16:15):
Okay, so I believe that what you're going to see once Congress returns from its summer recess is the House Judiciary Committee under the leadership of Jim Jordan and then also Tom McClintock, Congressman from California and Chip Roy Congressman from Texas who introduced the same act. They'll all be working on the judiciary committee and the immigration subcommittee there that have jurisdiction over immigration policy. And then of course the Homeland Security Committee, they'll come together and reintroduce the legislation and hopefully we'll see it move over the next couple of months.
Jenny Beth Martin (16:44):
That's really, really good. Do you know yet if there's a plan to get it through the Senate?
Chris Chmielenski (16:50):
Haven't heard that yet,
Chris Chmielenski (16:51):
But at least we have a Senate Majority leader who might bring it to the floor so we have a better chance. It did actually after it passed through the house in the previous Congress, it did get brought to the floor once or twice as an amendment to must pass legislation. But of course it was voted down along party lines and we even had a few Republicans vote no on it also. So we've got a little work to do, keeping all the Republicans in line and then trying to get some Democrats involved also. But it's another bill that can get added to must pass legislation. That's what happened with the 1996 bill that reformed illegal immigration and the illegal immigration reform. And I don't remember exactly, it's okay. Whose whole word salad, but it was from acronym 96 from 1996. And that created what eventually evolved into the E-Verify system. First introduced the entry exit system into law, stiffened up some of the laws, increased the of fines that you can be deportable for. So it was an illegal immigration enforcement bill and that was attached to must pass legislation back in 96.
Jenny Beth Martin (17:57):
Okay. And when you guys work on legislation, your goal is not just to pass any legislation. You want to make sure you're passing legislation that accomplishes a goal and sticks to conservative values as well.
Chris Chmielenski (18:09):
Exactly. A lot of times, particularly on the issue of immigration, you see a lot of messaging bills, hate bills that members want to brag about introducing, but they really don't do anything. We'll get a lot of bills that call for studies to see how many people are crossing the border. It's a lot. We don't need a study to tell us that. Let's actually have legislation that stops
Jenny Beth Martin (18:29):
It. Okay. So that's a big chunk of what you'll be working on. Then once Congress is back in session,
Chris Chmielenski (18:37):
Stopping
Jenny Beth Martin (18:38):
Amnesty and then working on passing whatever HR two turns into for this session,
Chris Chmielenski (18:44):
And there's also a possible second bite of budget reconciliation.
Jenny Beth Martin (18:49):
So
Chris Chmielenski (18:49):
In fact, the House Republican Study Committee just held a hearing or just held a meeting for staffers last week that we were able to brief at and talk to them about some of the things that they could put into a version two of the one Big Beautiful Bill Act. One of the positive provisions that was included in the first bill was a remittance tax. So this is, we're going to tax funds that are sent back across international lines. Typically it's funds that illegal aliens send back to their families back at home.
Jenny Beth Martin (19:26):
Are they sending it to their families or are they sending it to the coyotes and paying
Chris Chmielenski (19:29):
Off that? Probably
Jenny Beth Martin (19:29):
Both. Probably both.
Chris Chmielenski (19:30):
A little bit of both, exactly. A lot of times they're sending it back to their family members to pay the cartels. That helped gather in the United States too. So going to tax, the tax remittance was added to that, but it was added with a number of loopholes. So we want to close up some of those loopholes and then some of the other things that they did in one big beautiful Bill act by denying certain non-citizens some of these federal benefits, but they didn't get 'em all. So there's still more that we can add to the list and we're hoping to do that if we get a second crack at a budget reconciliation bill.
Jenny Beth Martin (19:59):
Well, I hope that we do. Okay. And one other thing that I learned about you on the bus is that you used to coach golf. Is that right?
Chris Chmielenski (20:07):
I did very long time ago, way before I got involved in this. So yeah, early two thousands. Taught at a high school in central Florida. That's so cool. Right after college or very shortly after college and coached on the golf team.
Jenny Beth Martin (20:24):
Did you play golf in college?
Chris Chmielenski (20:26):
I did not play golf in college. Played golf through high
Jenny Beth Martin (20:28):
School.
Chris Chmielenski (20:30):
I went to a very snowy place for school. There wasn't much opportunity, but then I moved to Florida so I could play a lot of golf.
Jenny Beth Martin (20:37):
Yeah, good. That seems like a lot of fun. My daughter was on her high school golf team and we always appreciate, it was tough to get the girls golf coaches. It was usually just a coach who didn't know a lot about it. Who just was being willing to sponsor the team.
Chris Chmielenski (20:55):
Well, thankfully I wasn't as good as some of my players. I had some really, really good players on my team. But yeah, it was fun and enjoyable and I got to set the lineup, so the matchup. So it was
Jenny Beth Martin (21:05):
Great. That's fun. And you and your family play golf now, right?
Chris Chmielenski (21:08):
We do, we do. Yes.
Jenny Beth Martin (21:10):
It's a good family sport.
Chris Chmielenski (21:12):
Yeah, I have, my daughter just got into it because my future son-in-law plays golf. We're trying to get my wife into it. My son plays. My father recently passed, but he played, he was the one who originally got me into it, so I've been playing it for most of my life.
Jenny Beth Martin (21:26):
Oh, that is so great. Well, I hope your wife gets into it.
Chris Chmielenski (21:30):
She'll have fun with it. Hope so too.
Jenny Beth Martin (21:31):
And if not, she can just ride along in the cart with you, so.
Chris Chmielenski (21:34):
Exactly. Exactly. That's what we tell her.
Jenny Beth Martin (21:36):
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sitting down with me today. Thanks for everything that you do to help us ensure that we have secure borders and to prevent amnesty. And thanks for all you've been doing the last several weeks getting ready for and being part of the only Citizens Boat Bus tour.
Chris Chmielenski (21:52):
Well, thank you. And again, thank you for letting us be part of it, and thank you for taking some of the information that we disseminate and get in and get out to the grassroots so that they can take action on it. It's really helpful.
Jenny Beth Martin (22:04):
And if you want more information about the only Citizens Vote Bus tour, go to demand only citizens vote.com. I hope you'll join us along the way and especially join us on September 10th as we deliver all the petitions and have a rally in Washington dc Again, that's demand only Citizens vote.com.
Narrator (22:22):
The Jenny Beth Show is hosted by Jenny Beth Martin, produced by Kevin Mohan and directed by Luke Livingston. The Jenny Beth Show is a production of Tea Party Patriots action. For more information, visit tea party patriots.org.
Jenny Beth Martin (22:42):
If you like this episode, let me know by hitting the light button or leaving a comment or a five star review. And if you want to be the first to know, every time we drop a new episode, be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications for whichever platform you're listening on. If you do these simple things, it will help the podcast grow and I'd really appreciate it. Thank you so much.