The United States is facing an enormous crisis on our Southern Border. Failed policies and a broken immigration system have resulted in homeland security risks, a humanitarian disaster, and a loss of confidence in the Biden administration’s ability to address the crisis.
State and local resources have been overwhelmed by the number of individuals crossing the border illegally. Earlier this summer, New York City resorted to crafting plans to use public school gymnasiums to shelter the influx of migrants. Dangerous cartels have continued to terrorize border communities and conduct deadly human and drug trafficking operations.
The crisis has an incredibly tragic impact on vulnerable individuals. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) numbers, more than 300,000 unaccompanied minors have been encountered by CBP over the last four fiscal years. The New York Times has reported that Office of Refugee Resettlement’s (ORR) Unaccompanied Children Program (UCP) immediately loses contact with one-third of the children released to sponsors through the UCP. This is both heartbreaking and unacceptable.
We must also acknowledge how unfair our broken immigration system is to those who respect the rule of law. Expecting every person who wants to immigrate to the U.S. to come through legal avenues is not too much to ask. It shouldn’t cost thousands of dollars and require extensive waiting periods to come to the U.S. legally, but we also shouldn’t reward those who disregard the law. The need for reform is clear, and the Biden administration has shown no leadership.
In fact, as the border crisis continues, the Biden administration’s policies incentivize illegal activity and work against the states most impacted. Rather than fulfilling its constitutional duty to secure our border and delivering the support needed by border states, President Biden’s Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Texas for their border enforcement efforts.
The state of Texas launched Operation Lone Star in March of 2021 to address the border crisis where the federal government has failed. Through Operation Lone Star, Texas has identified and implemented solutions – such as leveraging advanced technology to monitor smuggling routes and deployment of floating barriers in the Rio Grande– to improve the disastrous state of the Southern Border. Instead of working against these successful policies, the administration should be doing everything possible to get the border under control.
To effectively address this crisis, Congress must take action to secure our border and stop illegal immigration and asylum claim abuse. House Republicans are doing our part to confront this issue through the passage of the Schools Not Shelters Act (H.R. 3491) and the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2). H.R. 3491 would block the use of publicly funded school facilities for housing non-U.S. nationals and H.R. 2 would enact disincentives to illegal immigration – limiting false asylum claims and making improvements to U.S. employment eligibility verification. I supported passage of both these bills in the House and urge Senate Democrats and the White House to act on them.
Additionally, earlier this year, I sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to demand answers about ORR practices which have resulted in lost contact with minors and the processing practices for children in their care. We must get to the bottom of what has happened to the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children failed by the ORR.
Weak border security and bad policy have had severe consequences. Those who come to the United States legally, seeking a better life for their families, should not be undercut by a failing system; Americans everywhere deserve to know their communities are safe; and those who come to the United States illegally should face consequences for their actions. This should not be controversial, and the Biden administration needs to step up to the plate.