Addressing the Border Crisis

Floor Speech

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Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Cloud for organizing this Special Order on this topic that the country is dealing with today.

The Trump administration established strong laws against illegal immigration. President Biden has decided to disregard any success achieved by his predecessor and, instead, announced open borders to the world.

This problem was not created due to conditions abroad but by decisions made at home, and they were political decisions, unfortunately.

Since President Biden was elected, illegal border crossings have skyrocketed. In February 2020, the CBP announced that over 35,000 migrants tried to cross the border illegally. To put this in context, this past February, that number far surpassed 100,000.

Despite having the statistics to prove it, President Biden refuses to call this situation a crisis, which it is.

Aside from halting construction on the border wall as performed by President Trump, the Biden administration has reimplemented a system of catch and release and implemented selective enforcement of our immigration laws.

They have suspended the removal of most people with active deportation orders and even released COVID-positive detainees into our country. Really? If you go out of the country as an American and come in, you have to be tested. This administration has no policies in place to test or provide masks and definitely not to know what is coming into the country for other viruses.

The problems we are experiencing are more than politically motivated. They are counterproductive and put the safety of the American people in jeopardy. Our social systems and border officials don't have the capacity or the resources to handle an overwhelming surge in illegal border crossings.

Let me be clear, our immigration system needs judicial review and legislative reform. Americans want a secure southern border. Disregarding any form of success on our border is not the answer that we need.

As I said before, legal immigration has countless benefits to this great Nation. We have a right and a responsibility to know who and what comes into our great country.

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