SANTA ANA, Calif.—House Speaker Kevin McCarthy threatened to use the congressional spending bill to block funding of a visa waiver program for Chile that has been blamed for a sharp rise in organized crime including home burglaries and robberies in the United States.
The rise in residential and business crimes is linked to a Chilean crime syndicate, McCarthy told reporters at a press conference on June 16 in Santa Ana, California, following a roundtable discussion with Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, law enforcement officials, and California-based Republicans in Congress.
