[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3921-S3922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 741--TO EXPRESS THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF STATE GOVERNORS TO REPEL THE DANGEROUS ONGOING 
           INVASION ACROSS THE UNITED STATES SOUTHERN BORDER

  Mr. MARSHALL submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 741

       Whereas, during a 2019 Democratic presidential primary 
     debate, President Biden called for ``all those people seeking 
     asylum'' to ``immediately surge to the border'';
       Whereas, during a 2019 Democratic presidential primary 
     debate, President Biden raised his hand when candidates were 
     asked if their health plans will provide coverage for illegal 
     immigrants;
       Whereas, during a 2020 Democratic presidential primary 
     debate, President Biden pledged support for ``sanctuary 
     cities'' when he stated that illegal immigrants arrested by 
     local police should not be turned over to Federal immigration 
     authorities;
       Whereas, on January 20, 2021, one of President Biden's 
     first actions as President was sending proposed legislation, 
     the U.S. Citizenship Act, to Congress, which would provide a 
     path to citizenship for an estimated 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 
     illegal immigrants who are currently residing in the United 
     States;
       Whereas, on January 20, 2021, President Biden also issued a 
     ``Proclamation on the Termination Of Emergency With Respect 
     To The Southern Border Of The United States And Redirection 
     Of Funds Diverted To Border Wall Construction'', which halted 
     construction of physical barriers along the international 
     border between the United States and Mexico, and he later 
     terminated existing border wall construction contracts and 
     failed to obligate more than $1,000,000,000 that Congress had 
     lawfully appropriated for border wall construction;
       Whereas, on January 20, 2021, President Biden also halted 
     enrollments in the Migrant Protection Protocols policy, which 
     is also known as the ``remain in Mexico'' program;
       Whereas on February 6, 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony 
     Blinken suspended and terminated the Asylum Cooperative 
     Agreements with the Governments of El Salvador, of Guatemala, 
     and of Honduras;
       Whereas in March 2022, the Department of Homeland Security 
     began implementing the interim final rule titled ``Procedures 
     for Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of Asylum, 
     Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by Asylum 
     Officers''6 which authorizes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
     Services to consider the asylum applications of individuals 
     subject to expedited removal and violates the law enacted by 
     Congress that requires asylum seekers to offer evidence to 
     persuade a judge in an immigration court;
       Whereas, during fiscal year 2021, U.S. Immigration and 
     Customs Enforcement executed 59,000 deportations, which 
     represents the lowest number of deportations since fiscal 
     year 2008, and fewer than \1/3\ as many deportations as the 
     number of people who were deported during fiscal year 2020, 
     and is significantly lower than the 226,000 to 410,000 
     removals that occurred every fiscal year since 2008;
       Whereas, during fiscal year 2021, U.S. Immigration and 
     Customs Enforcement--
       (1) arrested 48 percent fewer convicted criminals than had 
     been arrested during the prior fiscal year;
       (2) deported 63 percent fewer criminals than had been 
     deported in the prior fiscal year; and
       (3) issued 56 percent fewer ``detainer requests'' to local 
     authorities than had been issued in the prior fiscal year;
       Whereas, during fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection made more than 1,700,000 arrests of illegal 
     immigrants along the international border between the United 
     States and Mexico, which is the highest level ever recorded, 
     and is on pace to arrest more than 2,000,000 illegal 
     immigrants along such border during fiscal year 2022;
       Whereas, on April 1, 2022, President Biden announced the 
     termination of a public health policy used to expel 
     potentially infected illegal immigrants during the COVID-19 
     pandemic (commonly known as ``title 42'');
       Whereas, on September 30, 2021, Department of Homeland 
     Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memorandum 
     titled ``Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration 
     Law'', which stated that an alien's illegal status in the 
     United States should not be the sole basis of an enforcement 
     action and prioritized for apprehension and removal aliens 
     who are a threat to national security, public safety, or 
     border security;
       Whereas, on October 12, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas issued a 
     memorandum titled ``Worksite Enforcement: The Strategy to 
     Protect the American Labor Market, the Conditions of the 
     American Worksite, and the Dignity of the Individual'', which 
     included Department-wide guidance to cease mass worksite 
     operations, among other instructions;
       Whereas, on October 27, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas issued a 
     memorandum titled ``Guidelines for Enforcement Actions in or 
     Near Protected Areas'', which listed numerous protected areas 
     where the enforcement of Federal immigration law should not 
     occur;
       Whereas, in May 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
     arrested 239,416 illegal immigrants along the international 
     border between the United States and Mexico, which is the 
     highest number of arrests ever recorded in a single month;
       Whereas President Biden's fiscal year 2023 budget request 
     aims to shift the Department of Homeland Security's border 
     management away from enforcement and toward ``effectively 
     managing irregular migration along the Southwest border'';
       Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Protection has apprehended 
     illegal immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, 
     Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, other Central and Latin 
     American nations, Turkey, India, Russia, and other nations 
     outside of the Western Hemisphere;
       Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has apprehended 50 
     people since October 1, 2021 along the international border 
     between the United States and Mexico who are listed on the 
     Federal Bureau of Investigations' terrorist screening 
     database;
       Whereas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested more 
     than 7,000 illegal aliens in fiscal year 2022 who have been 
     convicted of 1 or more crimes in the United States or abroad, 
     including--
       (1) 219 convicted sexual criminals;
       (2) 45 who were convicted of homicide or manslaughter;
       (3) 195 who were convicted of illegal weapons possession, 
     transport, or trafficking;
       (4) 561 who were convicted of burglary, robbery, larceny, 
     theft, or fraud; and
       (5) 711 who were convicted of assault, battery, or domestic 
     violence;
       Whereas, during fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection seized--
       (1) 11,203 pounds of fentanyl;
       (2) 5,400 pounds of heroin;
       (3) 191, 824 pounds of methamphetamine;
       (4) 97,638 pounds of cocaine; and
       (5) 10,848 pounds of ketamine;
       Whereas, provisional data from the National Center for 
     Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention estimates that there were 107,622 drug overdose 
     deaths in the United States during 2021, an increase of 
     nearly 15 percent from the estimated 93,655 deaths in 2020, 
     with overdose deaths involving opioids increasing from an 
     estimated 70,029 in 2020 to an estimated 80,816 in 2021, and 
     overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl), 
     psychostimulants (such as methamphetamine), and cocaine also 
     increasing during 2021.
       Whereas clause 1 of section 10 of article I of the United 
     States Constitution states, in part, ``No State shall, 
     without the Consent of Congress . . . engage in War, unless 
     actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not 
     admit of delay.'';
       Whereas section 4 of article IV of the United States 
     Constitution states, in part, ``The United States shall 
     guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of 
     Government, and shall protect each of them against 
     Invasion'';
       Whereas, in the context of known security concerns due to a 
     lack of proper vetting processes and systems, and in 
     conjunction with how the mass unlawful movement of people 
     across the border of the United States directly empowers and 
     enriches cartels and transnational gangs, the totality of 
     such activity constitutes an invasion;
       Whereas, on October 26, 2021, Arizona State Representative 
     Jake Hoffman sent a letter to Arizona Attorney General Mark 
     Brnovich requesting a formal legal opinion determining 
     whether President Biden has violated his obligations to 
     protect Arizona from invasion under section 4 of article IV 
     of the United States Constitution; and
       Whereas, on February 7, 2022, Arizona Attorney General Mark 
     Brnovich issued a formal legal opinion, which states, in 
     part--
       (1) ``The on-the-ground violence and lawlessness at 
     Arizona's border caused by cartels and gangs is extensive, 
     well-documented, and persistent. It can satisfy the 
     definition of `actually invaded' and `invasion' under the 
     U.S. Constitution.''; and
       (2) ``Arizona retains the independent authority under the 
     State Self-Defense Clause to defend itself when actually 
     invaded.'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate finds that--
       (1) President Biden's dereliction of duty and failure to 
     take care that the laws be faithfully executed at our 
     southern border has directly put the citizens of all 50 
     States in danger and has resulted in loss of life;
       (2) the violent activity and smuggling of drugs, humans, 
     guns, and other illicit goods carried out by drug cartels and 
     transnational criminal organizations, and the crossing of the 
     international border between legal ports of entry by 
     significant numbers of individuals contrary to the laws of 
     the United States, meet the definitions of--
       (A) ``actually invaded'' under clause 3 of section 10 of 
     article I of the United States Constitution; and
       (B) ``invasion'' under section 4 of article IV of the 
     United States Constitution; and
       (3) Governors of all 50 States possess the authority and 
     power as Commander-in-Chief of their respective States to 
     repel the invasion described in paragraph (2).

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