Regaining Control of the Southern Border

The United States’ southern border has experienced 18 consecutive months of over 150,000 illegal border crossings each month. In fact, 3.5 million people have been apprehended at the border since President Biden took office, and Fiscal Year 2022 has seen the highest number of illegal border crossings in the history of our country. Border security is getting worse, and it’s clear the Biden administration has lost control of our border.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), there was a 307 percent increase in illegal crossings in August 2022 compared to August 2020, the last August of President Trump's administration. Further, nearly 70 percent of August encounters were single adults. CBP is now encountering up to 8,000 illegal immigrants crossing the southern border each day. This is eight times the amount former Obama Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson said, “overwhelms the system.”

Evidence shows 78 terror watchlist suspects have attempted to cross the border in FY22. This is triple the amount in the previous five fiscal years combined. Fox News recently reported there have been more than 500,000 known “got-aways” at our southern border since October 2021. I have serious concerns about the potentially dangerous individuals who may not have been detected and apprehended.

This is a humanitarian crisis as well. Almost 750 border crossers have died this year — already 200 more than 2021. In a tragic case of the deadliest human smuggling event in modern U.S. history, 53 undocumented migrants – citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – were found dead from heat exposure and dehydration in a semi-trailer in San Antonio earlier this summer. And our open borders don’t just put the lives of undocumented migrants at risk.

Earlier this year, NBC reported Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials as saying fentanyl has become a drug of choice for the dangerous border cartels because its size makes it easy to smuggle into the United States, and it is both highly profitable and potent. More than 2,000 pounds of fentanyl was seized in August – a 6 percent increase from July. Last year, DEA’s Acting Administrator Christopher Evans acknowledged the southwest border was a “major entry point” for cartels smuggling fentanyl into the U.S.

The problem continues to get worse, yet actions taken by the Biden administration to repeal policies such as the Remain in Mexico Policy and Title 42 show an agenda out of touch with a majority of Americans. Americans want and deserve a nation that is safe.

I oppose ending Title 42 – authority to stop the processing of asylum seekers at the border – and I am a cosponsor of the PAUSE Act – legislation to prevent the administration from lifting or weakening Title 42. I am also a cosponsor of a bill to stop a rule proposed by the Biden Administration that would direct those who cross the border illegally and claim asylum so their applications are reviewed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials, rather than immigration judges. Further, under the rule, these individuals would not be detained while their application is pending.

This week House Republicans unveiled our Commitment to America. One key pillar of our commitment is a nation that’s safe. We are dedicated to advancing policy which creates a nation that’s safe. Since 2021, Republicans have introduced at least 21 bills and offered at least 20 amendments and motions to secure the border, including two amendments that would have funded increased fentanyl detection at the border. Speaker Pelosi led the way in blocking all of these, but we aren’t backing down. We need to fund border security, end loopholes, put a stop to government benefits going to those who are here illegally, and require proof of legal status to get a job. It’s time for a new direction for our country, and the chaos at the border must stop.