Within the last week, Rep. Jake LaTurner visited along the southern border in McAllen and El Paso, Texas and New Mexico to examine President Biden's border crisis:
"The best word to describe what I saw is horrifying -- massively overcrowded processing centers, young children exploited by drug cartels and traffickers, and the U.S. Border Patrol doing their best to hold it all together," said LaTurner. "I knew there was a crisis at our southern border, but the severity of the situation does not fully set in until you see it in person."
"Unfortunately, desperate migrants are paying the price for the Biden administration's failure to understand that their words and actions have consequences."
Read Rep. LaTurner's full op-ed on his visit the southern border here.
Background
Over the course of President Trump's time in office, he signed several executive orders to deter, slow, and in some cases stop the flow of migrants into the United States, most of which President Biden has since rescinded or revoked. The rescinded orders include commonsense policies like declaring the crisis at our southern border a national emergency; the Migrant Protection Protocols, which allowed migrants to remain in Mexico to await hearings rather than be released into the interior of the United States; allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prioritize the removal of all illegal immigrants, especially those who committed crimes, posed a national security risk, engaged in fraud or willful representation before the government, or abused welfare programs; and construction of the border wall.
As a result, the crisis is on track to be the worst in 20 years, according to DHS. In March of 2021:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered over 172,000 illegal immigrants at the southwest border, the highest monthly total in 15 years and an increase of 400% compared to March 2020.
CBP encountered nearly 19,000 unaccompanied alien children (UACs), an increase of 486% compared to March 2020.
CBP encountered more than 53,000 family units at the southwest border, an increase of 1056% compared to March 2020.
President Biden's administration has opened twelve emergency shelters for unaccompanied minors since he took office. The Biden Administration has also reduced background checks on staff and volunteers caring for UACs by waiving the fingerprint-based FBI background checks due to the need to more quickly staff emergency intake facilities for UACs. To date, neither President Biden nor Vice President Harris have visited the border to witness conditions first-hand.
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