[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2845-S2846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Title 42
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, 3 weeks ago, a Federal judge blocked the
Biden Administration from lifting title 42 COVID restrictions. It was a
welcome decision that will hopefully stave off an additional flood of
illegal immigration on our southern border. But it has been pretty much
the only bit of good news on this front, because the situation at our
southern border is out of control.
In April, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 234,088
individuals attempting to cross our border illegally--234,088. That is
the highest number ever recorded.
The Border Patrol is stretched thin. A recent article reported that
``around 60 percent of CBP agents have been assigned to process
migrants, taking them away from field work.'' Sixty percent. Detention
facilities are overflowing and massive numbers of illegal immigrants
are being released into the country, many of whom will never report to
an immigration office as ordered.
In short, our southern border is in chaos, and if title 42 is lifted,
the situation is almost guaranteed to become much worse.
The Department of Homeland Security has estimated that as many as
18,000 migrants per day could attempt to cross our southern border if
the policy is lifted. Eighteen thousand per day--that is more than
double the number we are currently experiencing, and the administration
has yet to implement any plan for dealing with such a situation.
Illegal immigration, especially the kind of out-of-control illegal
immigration we are now experiencing, has serious consequences.
Criminals, including human traffickers, drug smugglers, and gang
members, regularly attempt to cross our southern border. The worse the
situation at our border gets, the easier it is for those individuals to
make their way into the United States, and that has consequences for
our entire country.
South Dakota law enforcement officials tell me that they are seizing
drugs that they can trace directly back to the cartels who smuggle
these drugs across our border. Our country is currently in the midst of
a fentanyl crisis. In fact, right now, fentanyl overdose is the leading
cause of death for U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 45. And where
is all this fentanyl coming from? Most of it is being trafficked across
our southern border; and when more and more of our Customs and Border
Protection agents have been pulled off the border to process migrants,
it is pretty much a guarantee that drug smugglers are having a much
easier time in getting their product into the country.
I mentioned that Customs and Border Protection encountered more than
234,000 individuals who were attempting to cross our southern border
illegally in the month of April, but that number only reflects
individuals the CBP has actually apprehended. In April, Homeland
Security Secretary Mayorkas testified that, in addition to the 1.7
million apprehensions at the southern border in fiscal year 2021, there
were more than 389,000 ``got-aways''--individuals the Border Patrol saw
but was unable to apprehend.
The Economist recently reported:
One border expert estimates that less than 20 percent of
people trying to cross the border undetected are stopped.
The administration has attempted to suggest that the surge in illegal
immigration that we have been experiencing since President Biden took
office is, in large part, a function of conditions in other countries;
but while these factors exist--and there are legitimate asylum claims
at the border--that doesn't mean there is nothing the President can do
about our out-of-control border situation. Better border security is
well within the President's control. He is just not interested in
putting it in place, and his Vice President has all but formally
abandoned her role as border czar.
In fact, since taking office, the President has invited increased
illegal immigration with the policy decisions that he has made. On his
very first day in office, President Biden rescinded the declaration of
a national emergency at our southern border; he halted construction of
the border wall; he revoked a Trump administration order that called
for the government to faithfully execute our immigration laws; and his
Department of Homeland Security issued guidelines pausing deportations
except under certain conditions. That was all--all--on his first day in
office.
Needless to say, the effect of all of this was to declare to the
world that the U.S. borders were effectively open. And, of course, the
President's anti-border security efforts didn't end there.
The President has significantly limited the ability of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement to enforce immigration laws. Deportations
dropped precipitously during fiscal year 2021, as did arrests in the
interior of the country. In March, the administration rescinded a 2019
rule expanding the expedited removal for individuals here illegally;
and as I have mentioned, of course, the administration is attempting to
remove title 42 COVID-19 restrictions with no visible plan to control
the resulting surge in illegal immigration.
[[Page S2846]]
President Biden has made it known that he wants to create a ``fair,
orderly, and humane'' immigration system. Well, he is failing on all
fronts. I don't need to tell anyone that the situation at the southern
border, right now, is far from orderly, but it is also not humane. The
President and other members of his party tend to convey an attitude
that strong border security and the enforcement of our Nation's
immigration laws are somehow not compassionate or humane. Well, they
are wrong. We are seeing the effects of the President's anti-border
security policies at our southern border right now, and the results are
neither compassionate nor humane.
Encouraging individuals to make the oftentimes dangerous journey to
our southern border in the hopes they will be able to slip across
illegally is not humane. Encouraging families and, at times,
unaccompanied children to expose themselves to the dangers of heat and
the elements and human trafficking is not compassionate. At least 557
migrants died while attempting to cross the southern border during
fiscal year 2021. That, too, was a record number. How many of them were
encouraged to make the journey by the President's lax border policies?
And I haven't even mentioned the lack of compassion and humanity the
President displays for Americans affected by the illegal immigration
crisis. Straining the resources of U.S. border communities by smoothing
the way for illegal immigration and cross-border criminal activity is
not compassionate. Making it easier for cartels to flood our Nation
with fentanyl is not humane.
The President of the United States--any President--has a special
responsibility for our Nation's security, and that includes securing
our Nation's border. So far, President Biden has spectacularly failed
to meet that responsibility. This week, a caravan of thousands has
reportedly started working its way north, through Mexico, aligning with
the Summits of the Americas.
It is long past time for the President to get serious about the
border crisis that he has created, and this summit could be an
opportunity for him to finally take action. I hope that he will reverse
his current course before his administration's signature accomplishment
ends up being a legacy of chaos at our southern border.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.