[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S498-S501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BORDER SECURITY
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, last weekend, I spent time down at the
southwest border, an area the Presiding Officer is very familiar with.
This time, I was in the Rio Grande Valley. The Rio Grande Valley area
has the highest area of illegal crossings across our entire 2,000-mile
southwest border. In fact, it is interesting to be able to track just
the movement across that border.
This is from 2014 to 2022. It is what has happened along this area of
the border, just this one specific area, what is called the Rio Grande
Valley area. It is around McAllen and Brownsville--that area. This
shows, each year, what happens.
It starts in October, way down here with the numbers low. In some
years, it came up, but just about every year, it went up and down. It
was down significantly in November and December because, again, in
Central America, they celebrate Christmas as well, and a lot of folks
want to head back home, even, or be there. So immigration doesn't cross
from south to north significantly in most years in October, November,
December, January, except for this really odd line right here that
seems really out of balance with all the rest of the lines from the
last decade.
It is this line right here. This line is actually from last year.
This line shows a number of 2 million people who illegally crossed our
southwest border last year whom we know of--2 million. That is this
line.
Typically, every other year, it is way down low when you get to
October, November, December. That is over here. Here are the low
months--but not this year. It has already started way up high. In fact,
what is interesting is, for October, November, December, if you take
any one of those months, there are as many people illegally crossing
the border in the Rio Grande Valley in October, November, or December
as over the last 3 years in that month combined.
Let me run that past everybody again. If you take any month--October,
November, December--there were higher illegal crossings that we know of
than over the last 3 years combined in any year that we know of.
[[Page S499]]
My fear is, as some people have said, we have a problem on our
southern border. I actually believe the Biden administration's policy
is working exactly as they designed it to work--exactly. They created a
structure in a system to allow as many people as possible to be able to
cross our southern border, and it is working exactly.
Why would I say that? Well, in the first days of the Biden
Presidency, when you stop border wall construction, when you announce
they are going to change dramatically every policy in how we are
interdicting individuals, when they cancel all foreign agreements with
Mexico and with Central America that are actually limiting the number
of people there, and then you don't replace them with anything, you
have got to know that this is what is going to happen. Then, a year
later, when nothing has changed, this is what is going to happen.
The agents in the Rio Grande Valley whom I talked to anticipate that
by the time we get to the summer, we are going to be at 9,000 people a
day who are illegally crossing our southern border--a day. There are
many months in the past that we didn't have that many people crossing
the border illegally. They are anticipating, on this trend line, 9,000
a day who will be coming. So far, what has the Biden administration
done? They have stuck with their plan because it is doing exactly what
they thought it was going to do.
I am amazed at the number of people I have talked to who have grown
numb to what is happening on our southern border, and the media has
just looked away and said: We have talked about how bad it is for a
year; that is old news now. So they no longer talk about the 2 million
people who have illegally crossed our border.
But, in going down last weekend and spending time with the Border
Patrol, the CBP, ICE, and other leaders who were there, they could tell
me firsthand the stories from last week, late at night, of the five
Syrians they picked up who were crossing the southern border in the
brush. Those 5 Syrians were part of the count of the 2 million people
from last year that will now be who knows how big this year. They told
me directly the story of a Nicaraguan single adult male whom they
picked up crossing the border in the Rio Grande Valley, who told them
under questioning that he was a member of the Nicaraguan military.
Within 48 hours, he was released into the United States, and they were
furious about it. Their question was very, very simple. A single adult
male, member of a foreign military is now somewhere in our country, and
they have no idea why, because they are doing their job but the
policies that they have to work with right now of how many people they
have to be able to cut loose, and how hard it is to be able to detain
people, and the limiting policies of the Biden administration are
fulfilling exactly what they are designed to do.
There has been a lot of conversation on the floor, and I have brought
several times to this body the construction of the border barriers down
in the southwest. This is something that members of the Border Patrol
have asked for again and again and again: Close the gaps. They always
say: Close the gaps.
There are these massive gaps where it was under construction. On
January 20th of last year, construction stopped. Over and over again,
people have said: Close the gaps. Close the gaps--those gaps we have to
patrol.
Let me give you an example. When I got down there, they had now
announced, by the way, they are closing the gaps. And everyone went:
Great, the gaps are being closed.
But I got down there to be able to look at the gaps being closed, and
let me show you what it looks like. This is an aerial shot when we were
up in a helicopter with CBP, getting a chance to be able to literally
watch people crossing the border illegally. From this aerial shot, I
hope you can see. This was the existing wall that was constructed
during the Trump administration--this tall, 30-foot wall with the anti-
climb portion on it. Here is where the construction stopped. It was all
the way through here, and then there was a gap, and then they had
started another section here. They were getting ready to be able to put
up the other sections, but they had to stop.
The Biden administration has now announced that they are going to
close the gaps. I hope you don't miss it. They have announced the gaps
are closed. Can you see this tiny, little picket fence on the bottom
here? Probably not. This tiny, little picket fence that is at the
bottom, that is what they say is ``close the gaps.'' So it is no longer
just open. They have a tiny, little decorative fence there, and that is
their announced ``we have closed the gap.''
That is not going to deter anyone. They know it full well. It is not
designed to deter anyone. It is designed to allow the administration to
say, ``We closed the gap,'' and hope no one looks at it because that
gap will fulfill exactly what it is designed to fulfill; that is, to
allow people in, not keep people out.
That doesn't help the Border Patrol. And they know it because it is
not designed to be able to help the Border Patrol, and they know it.
Federal courts require the Biden administration to put in place what
was a Trump policy before dealing with those individuals coming to seek
asylum in the United States. It is called MPP. Some people call it
``Remain in Mexico.'' This policy basically said, if you want to be
able to come into the country, you had to pause, get in line, register
so we know who you are. We would set up an orderly process, and then
you would have to stay in the border region until it was time for your
hearing to occur. There was a dramatic drop in individuals who were
illegally crossing our border because they knew they wouldn't
automatically get in--what is called catch and release--that they
wouldn't just come across, be released into the country, and wait 2
years until the hearing. Two years, that is what it used to be, to be
able to wait until the hearing, until they shifted to the ``Remain in
Mexico'' policy, and they said you have to stay here in the border
region until it is time for your hearing. Within months they would come
forward, they would get their hearing and get to make their
determination, whether they fulfilled the asylum or not.
The Federal courts have said to the Biden administration: You have to
put that policy back in place. So after months of delay, they have
agreed to do it. It is one of the places I wanted to stop in and see.
This is an overview of the Brownsville location for the ``Remain in
Mexico'' policy. This overview shows the setup that they have created
there in Brownsville to do the hearings. There is an intake area for
processing, a gathering area, a medical area. There are six courtrooms
that are set up. The courtrooms that are set up are all set up as large
courtrooms where up to 22 different defendants could be here with their
attorneys. All the courtrooms have videoconferencing set up as a full-
on courtroom for that location. There are, in each location, 120
individual office spaces set up--120--where individuals that had
illegally crossed the border could meet with their lawyer. So 6
courtrooms, 120 meeting spaces, all the ancillary space--this is a
massive complex.
When I was down there last week, they have, so far, handled three
people--three--and they weren't sure how many they were going to handle
this week. Why? Because on the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy--MPP,
whatever you want to be able to call it--they have created a system
with so many exceptions in it that they could tell the Federal courts,
``Yes, we are doing it,'' but, in reality, they are not--realizing that
this month they have had about 45,000 people illegally cross the border
in this zone just in January, but only 3 they made eligible to go
through this process, of the 45,000.
Why? Well, they made a whole set of stipulations. They said: If you
come in a family group, you are not eligible to come in here. If you
declare that you have a medical issue of any type, no matter how minor
it may be, you are not eligible to be able to go through this program.
If you are LGBT, you are not eligible to be able to go through this
program. If you are 75 years or older, you are not eligible to be able
to go through this program. If you are Nicaraguan, you are not eligible
to go through this program. If you are Venezuelan, you are not eligible
to go through this program.
Do you get the hint? They set so many criteria up to be able to list
out--no, no, no, no, no, no--that the poor three people who were left
who
[[Page S500]]
didn't fit in those categories, they are going through. By the way,
each person is given 24 hours with their lawyer before they actually
have to go through this process, so counsel could give them the full
list of all the items that they could select and say: If you meet any
of the criteria, verbally, if you just say you meet any of these
criteria, then you are out. And what does ``you are out'' mean? You are
released into the United States, and you await your hearing.
Remember when I said that during the Trump administration those
hearings would take up to 2 years before you got to an asylum hearing?
Well, when I met with DHS officials this week, it is not 2 years
anymore; it is now 6 years. You illegally cross the border, you get a
paper, they release you into the country, you get on a bus or on a
plane, literally go anywhere you want to go in the country, and set a
date 6 years from now to show up at your court hearing. That is on
average, by the way. Some are longer than that.
Now, you tell me, what happens if someone illegally crosses the
border, they are processed within 48 hours, given a document that says
you can be here 6 years to go anywhere you want to go in the country--
what do you think they are going to do when they pick up their cell
phone? I will tell you what is happening. They are texting a family
member back home. They are texting friends back home and saying: I
got in, and here is how I did it. Come join me.
And they are--2 million people last year. And the response so far has
been decorative fencing, what they actually call guardrails in the
area, and empty courtrooms.
By the way, this was the middle of the day when I was there--empty
courtrooms with no one being processed, all so they can say they did
something.
American taxpayers paid millions of dollars for this setup so they
could say they are doing something when they are actually doing
nothing, getting the results exactly as they planned.
Oh, but, of course, everyone is being required to be vaccinated
correctly before they reach the country. Of course, everyone is being
required to be vaccinated, except they are not.
If you are a legal green card holder, you are required to be
vaccinated. President Biden is trying to vaccinate everyone in private
businesses, in the Federal workforce, Federal contractors. Members of
the military are being kicked out of the military this week if they are
not vaccinated. Oh, but if you cross the border illegally, you are
given the option whether you want a vaccine or not. It is offered to
you for free, but it is not mandated; it is voluntary.
What is the result? Well, some of the results are pretty obvious. The
numbers are skyrocketing. As I showed you before, these are record
numbers of individuals crossing the border illegally. That is seeable.
Let me tell you what is not seeable at this point. The drug cartels
in Mexico are getting richer and richer and richer. They are moving
record amounts of drugs across our border, making an incredible amount
of money for the cartels, continuing to strengthen those drug cartels
on the border. But each of the individuals who cross our southern
border also pay a fee to the cartels--each of them.
You don't cross the southern border into the United States without
crossing through one of the cartel areas, and each one of them has to
pay. It is somewhere around $4,000 to $30,000 per person to be able to
cross through Mexico and into the United States--$4,000 if you are from
Guatemala; $30,000 if you are from China.
And none of us should be surprised.
Just last year, people from more than 100 countries crossed into the
United States, that we picked up and interdicted, illegally--more than
100 countries. This common conversation about, well, it is all folks
from Central America--there are a lot of folks from Central America
coming, but it is people from over 100 countries, including those five
Syrians who were picked up just last week.
Do some rough math. If people pay between $4,000 and $30,000 a person
and there were 2 million people who crossed illegally last year that we
know of, that is $10 billion paid to the cartels--$10 billion. And our
open borders are allowing the cartels to rake in that kind of cash.
When I visited with the Border Patrol and got a chance to be able to
talk to them, their morale is awful, as you can imagine. They are doing
their job. They are busting it every day, but they are frustrated. They
are frustrated at the policies that they are having to enforce, when
they are used to being law enforcement folks enforcing our southern
border, and now, they are hotel check-in staff who are just greeting
people at the border, processing them, and releasing them into the
country.
That is not what they signed up for. They signed up to protect our
country, and, literally, they cannot. In this case, law enforcement is
handcuffed, and the criminals are released. It shouldn't be that way,
and they know it.
Usually, October, November, December, and January are lower months--
not so this time. They are exhausted from a record amount of illegal
crossings last year, and they were hoping to get a bit of a break. But
with the policies in place, it didn't matter how cold it is. People are
still coming.
On top of all of that, here is what else happened last month, just
one example. This is a Border Patrol vehicle that had just interdicted
a group of folks at the border. I don't know whether you can see it or
not, but that is a giant bullet hole in the front of it, and that is
another bullet hole in it, and that is another bullet hole right behind
the passenger window. By the way, at this particular moment, they had
actually already picked somebody up, and they were sitting in that back
seat.
The Border Patrol every day risk their lives to be able to enforce
the law. And for this group of folks they pick up, within hours, they
are released, and they are somewhere in the country waiting on a court
hearing 6 years from now, if they ever show up for the hearing.
Do you want to know how frustrated this group of law enforcement is?
They risk their lives for nothing because this is the policy of the
Biden administration.
This is not an accident. This is what it has brought. As they run
through, tonight, the heavy brush, along a very cold Texas-Mexico
border, they will pick people up, and they will faithfully do their job
because they have over and over again, only to have a policy that cuts
them loose.
How long?
Listen, Border Patrol agents have families too. Their families matter
as well. And all this talk about we are going to be compassionate to
the families of people who are illegally crossing the border--what we
are really doing as a policy is enriching the cartels in Mexico;
encouraging people to make a very dangerous journey; releasing them
into the country with not a legal status, to live in the shadows of our
Nation; and putting law enforcement at risk for their life.
This should not be.
And while the country just seems to move on and ignore the chaos at
our border, this is still what is going on tonight, and it needs to
stop. This administration has the ability to change policy and to
change direction on our southern border, and they are not. They are not
doing it on purpose, and the results are chaos. I wish I were wrong on
this.
There is something called title 42. Title 42 means we have a COVID
epidemic happening. OK. And under a COVID epidemic or under any kind of
epidemic, law enforcement is able to take some individuals, single
adults from certain countries, and turn them around and send them right
back in and say: You can't come in because of the epidemic.
We have enormous numbers of those individuals coming, and right now
some of those individuals from some of those countries are being turned
around, thankfully.
And when I have asked DHS: What is your plan for those individuals
once the COVID epidemic ends? And it does, God willing, end one day.
When it ends, what is your plan?
We are now 13 months into this administration, and they still have no
plan. That is not just my guess; that is my point-blank asking: What is
the plan to turn people around once the COVID epidemic ends for that
small group of folks that you are turning around?
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They don't have one. It doesn't take 13 months to be able to
determine what you are going to do. That just tells me the plan is,
when the COVID epidemic ends, those folks get in too.
When does this end? Who is going to stand up and help us?
Just enforce the laws of our country.
I yield the floor.
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