[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 165 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WORSENING BORDER CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, the collapse of our southern border now 
poses a mortal danger to our country. No civilization has ever survived 
the magnitude of mass migration that this administration is not only 
accommodating but is encouraging.
  When Donald Trump left office, we had operational control of our 
borders. The border wall was nearing completion. Court-ordered 
deportations were finally being enforced. The Migrant Protection 
Protocols negotiated with Mexico reduced the number of fraudulent 
asylum claims to a trickle.
  All that Biden needed to do was to continue these policies. Instead, 
he reversed them on his first day in office. He ordered the border wall 
to be abandoned, leaving construction gaps that make it useless. He 
ordered ICE to cease enforcing the law. He reversed the remain in 
Mexico policy. And he sent a clear and unmistakable message heard 
around the world: America is now a nation without borders. And nations 
without borders aren't around very long.
  The numbers are staggering. In July, Customs and Border Patrol 
encountered 212,000 foreign nationals illegally entering our country. 
That is the entire population of Birmingham, Alabama, in a month. In 
August, another 209,000, which is Des Moines, Iowa.
  There have been, already, 1\1/2\ million such encounters this year, 
and the Gallup organization warns us there are 42 million people living 
in poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean who intend to come here 
if they can. And they are.
  Almost overnight last week, 15,000 Haitian nationals illegally 
crossed the border and set up camp in Del Rio, Texas. It is reported 
that DHS is tracking an additional 40,000 to 60,000 Haitian migrants 
between Colombia and the U.S. border. Contrary to claims by the 
administration, only a fraction of them have been returned to Haiti. It 
appears the vast majority are being rapidly and furtively processed 
into our communities.

                              {time}  1030

  There is no denying the fact that this is a deliberate policy by this 
administration to fundamentally change the economy, politics, culture, 
customs, and institutions of the American Republic.
  Democrats on the Judiciary Committee just voted to grant amnesty, 
permanent legal residence, and a fast track to citizenship for between 
8 and 10 million foreign nationals who have already illegally entered 
our country, defied our laws, thumbed their noses at our sovereignty, 
and are demanding to stay and are expecting American taxpayers to 
continue to support them.
  Eight to 10 million, we need to understand what that means. Eight 
million is the entire population--every man, woman, and child--living 
in the States of Alaska, Maine, Delaware, Wyoming, North Dakota, South 
Dakota, Rhode Island, Montana, and Vermont combined.
  This is at a time when real family earnings are declining, crime is 
increasing, homelessness is rampant, and mounting debt is killing the 
American Dream of a better future for our children.
  Is it any wonder our borders are overwhelmed? Ask the migrants why 
they are coming. Every one of them will tell you it is because of Joe 
Biden's promise of admission, amnesty, and citizenship.
  That is why we are seeing this tragic and shocking trafficking of 
young children, and it is going to continue until we secure our border 
and start enforcing our immigration laws, which are already among the 
most liberal in the world.
  We are told we need to legalize those who illegally took Americans' 
jobs as essential workers during the pandemic. The fact is, 45 percent 
of the entire workforce is considered essential by the government. That 
is hardly an exclusive group. What the Democrats are really saying is 
that if you are part of the 55 percent of Americans they don't consider 
essential and you lost your job during their leftist lockdowns, you 
will be pushed aside for those who violated our laws, broke the rules, 
and now compete in the job market that you are trying to get back into, 
while using your money to do it.
  Please, someone, explain to me: How are American workers helped by 
flooding the labor market with another wave of illegal immigration? How 
are our children, who have been robbed of an entire year of their 
educations, helped by filling their classrooms with non-English-
speaking classmates? How are our communities made safer by making it 
harder to deport criminal illegal aliens and gang members? How are our 
hospitals made more accessible by overwhelming emergency rooms with 
illegal immigrants demanding care?
  Mr. Speaker, people are asking me every day: How could this have 
happened to our country? And the answer is simple. If you voted for the 
Democrats, this is what you voted for. And if you are surprised, you 
weren't paying attention.

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