It’s no secret that President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have presided over a national security and humanitarian crisis at our nation’s southern border. In the week leading up to the expiration of Title 42, Border Patrol saw more than 11,000 migrants crossing the border illegally each day – the highest single daily totals ever recorded.
Over the course of Biden’s presidency, we’ve seen over 6.3 million illegal border crossings, including 1.3 million known got-aways. This doesn’t even account for those who crossed undetected.
We knew that the end of Title 42, without increased enforcement, would send a message to the world that our southern border is wide open for those waiting to make the trip. Instead of turning migrants away, President Biden made it clear that his solution to our overcrowded border facilities is releasing migrants into the country without court dates or the ability to track them.
In fact, President Biden’s plan to address the ongoing surge at the border is not to stop inadmissible people from making the journey here, but to manage their flow.
Under this administration all inadmissible immigrants are more than welcome – regardless of their likelihood of having a lawful path forward once they are here. The only concern this administration has is optics; it is giving illegal, inadmissible entrants the trappings of legality – whether through unlawful parole or the use of an app—just to manage the illegal flow and hide the truth from the American people.
This ongoing surge will include criminals, drug traffickers and terrorists. None of which will be encumbered from entering our country under the Biden administration’s policies.
These weak border policies aren’t only impacting border communities – when our laws are ignored, every state becomes a border state. States like Montana and Utah have seen an unprecedented flood of drugs and crime under President Biden’s leadership.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division, which covers Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, seized over 5.8 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022. That’s enough to kill the entire population of Montana five times. Yet, Secretary Mayorkas continues to lie to Congress by claiming that he has operational control of the border.
Data from the CDC suggests that overdose deaths have climbed every year that President Biden has been in office. And yet, these wide-open border policies have allowed China and the cartels to saturate our nation with deadly fentanyl. This is an attack on the American people.
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In addition to compromising their safety, taxpayers are forced to foot the ever-increasing costs associated with the border crisis. According to a study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, American taxpayers pay nearly $162 billion yearly for services and benefits provided to illegal immigrants. We can’t afford to take care of migrants while American families deal with inflation and our government faces a $32 trillion debt that is projected to reach $36 trillion by 2025.
What we’ve been seeing at the border in recent weeks must be addressed immediately. House Republicans took action on the same day Title 42 was set to expire and passed H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act. This landmark legislation would reinstate Trump-era immigration policies and return commonsense leadership to the border issue.
Among the key reforms in the Secure Border Act are provisions that prevent abuse of our asylum and parole laws, end the exploitation of unaccompanied immigrant children, and stop the import of illegals to the United States on an industrial scale. It also directs the completion of President Trump’s southern border wall.
President Biden has demonstrated that he’s more than happy to let the chaos at the border fester and leave border communities to fend for themselves. The GOP is committed to ending the border crisis. The Secure the Border Act delivers by adding more agents, updating border enforcement technology, and ending the administration’s disastrous catch-and-release policy.
This can’t wait – now is the time the Senate to pass and the president to sign into law the Secure the Border Act to strengthen our southern border and protect American families.
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Republican Matt Rosendale represents Montana’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
