[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 81 (Monday, May 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1638-S1639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Border Security
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, we have really heard quite a bit over
the past few weeks and especially this past weekend about this
administration and their decision to do away with title 42, and I would
take this opportunity to remind my Democratic colleagues that President
Biden himself admitted that our southern border will be, and I quote
him, ``chaotic for a while'' post-title 42. So the expectation is that
this will create chaos, and they know it, but they are doing it anyway.
In the days right before title 42 was terminated, we were already
seeing unprecedented chaos along our southern border. Again, they knew
it. Chaos was coming, but they were going to do it anyway because it
serves their purposes.
Now, here is some of the chaos that has actually happened at that
border. These are last week's numbers. They are not my numbers. They
are not Republican numbers. They are Border Patrol's numbers. This is
what this administration is doing to the communities that are along
that southern border.
Border Patrol reported last week 68,000 apprehensions, and they
seized hundreds of pounds of narcotics, including 56 pounds of
fentanyl. Bear in mind, 1 little gram, one little touch is enough to
kill. We are all hearing ``One pill will kill.'' Yet think about 56
pounds of that coming in. What would that do to your community?
At the same time, on top of the 68,000 who were apprehended, there
were 16,000 ``got-aways'' whom they could see on surveillance video,
but they could not get to them. Those are the known ``got-aways.'' So
they cross the border, and they go running into the country.
There are also the unknown ``got-aways.'' As the Presiding Officer
knows, as Border Patrol is out, as they are going through their day,
many times they find evidence of the people who have crossed where they
couldn't see them on video. They weren't wanting to be apprehended.
Those are the really bad, bad, bad guys who are bringing in more drugs,
more terrorists, more gangs into this country.
In the past 72 hours alone, we have seen three agents assaulted.
These are our Border Patrol agents. They are being assaulted. Bear in
mind, the cartels--global organizations--the cartels are in charge of
that border on the Mexico side. So three of our agents have been
assaulted. There were almost 15,000 more apprehensions in 72 hours and
more than 4,300 ``got-aways'' who evaded capture.
As I said, these are not my numbers. They are not Republican numbers.
These are the numbers of the Border Patrol. They are the Biden
administration's numbers. They know that they are creating chaos, that
they are making life difficult, that they are making the job of Border
Patrol harder every single day, but it serves their purpose, so they do
it anyway.
They know exactly what is happening and what will happen if they
don't regain control of that border:
[[Page S1639]]
more chaos. The chaos is going to escalate because the drug cartels
were exploiting the end of title 42 well before last week.
I have on my poster this weekend review, with the apprehensions we
have talked about: $83,000 that was seized from the cartels, 224 pounds
of marijuana, 179 pounds of meth, 56 pounds of fentanyl, 34 pounds of
cocaine, 5 pounds of heroin.
You know, I had a sheriff tell me that they used to apprehend drugs
in grams, and now it is all pounds. Why is it pounds? It is because the
cartels are so emboldened.
Oh, here we go. We have some more: seven firearms, five sex
offenders. These are people who were convicted of crimes in their
countries, and they are trying to come in here. A lot of these
countries are emptying their jails and trying to unload them on us.
Well, four gang members coming to a neighborhood near you. Why is it
that crime is running rampant? Well, we know.
Now, this is all from last week: two felons, one subject with five
warrants. That is what they are dealing with.
From October of last year to March of this year, agents apprehended
more than 1 million illegal immigrants. Title 42 was still in place
then. Last week, tens of thousands of people were camped on the Mexico
side of the border, and nearly 80,000 more were gathered in Guatemala
with plans to come into the United States. They are making their way
here.
The cartels have a plan. The Biden administration and the Democrats
have zero of a plan. So we need Congress to step in and make certain we
get this border secured.
On his second day in office, President Biden terminated the
successful Trump-era migrant protection protocols. That is known as
``Remain in Mexico.'' The policy required illegal immigrants seeking
asylum at the southern border or without proper ID to return to Mexico
to await their hearing. It worked. Guess what. It worked. Now, instead
of keeping it in place, the Biden administration and the Democrats have
decided to go back to the old, failed catch-and-release policy. Come on
in. We will give you a court date. Court dates now are about 2030, but
come on, we will let you in. They will be caught, and then they are
released into the country.
Bringing back ``Remain in Mexico'' is essential to maintaining our
Nation's security and sovereignty, especially now that the Biden
administration has completely undermined Border Patrol by stripping
them of their title 42 authority. So this month, I introduced the Make
the Migrant Protection Protocols Mandatory Act. The bill is simple. It
mandates that individuals seeking asylum at the southern border or
without proper ID must return to Mexico while they await their
immigration proceedings. We should pass this as soon as possible. That
is step one.
Step two is to strike at the heart of the cartels' $13 billion
criminal enterprise.
Since President Biden took office, human trafficking has become even
more pervasive at the southern border. The State Department estimates
that the cartels move as many as 17,500 people across the border every
year. One in three is a child. We also know that the cartels
overwhelmingly target young girls and sell them into sex slavery. With
the end of title 42, these criminal abusers will feel particularly
emboldened to expand their business.
I want you to think about those numbers. Human trafficking has become
a $13 billion business. Go back to 2019; it was a $500 million-a-year
business. Ask yourself, what has changed in that time? It is an
administration with very lax or no border policy. Their policy is open
it up so that we, the taxpayers, finish the cartels' job. And it is a
humanitarian crisis because women and girls--90 percent of whom make
this journey--are being sexually assaulted. So I would ask my
colleagues, are you OK with that? Are you OK with the cartels making
this money? Are you OK with them moving these individuals and selling
these women and girls into sex slavery?
The SAVE Girls Act, which I introduced this year--Senator Klobuchar
has joined me on this--it establishes a $50 million grant program to
put critical resources into the hands of State and local officials and
nonprofits so they can fight the smuggling and trafficking of girls
across the border and into the communities.
This persistent abuse of young women will only worsen with title 42
gone. There is no reason why this body should not immediately pass this
bill and help to protect these women and children who are making this
journey.
As we speak, cartels are exploiting Congress's inaction. The
President is asleep at the wheel. His border czar is missing in action.
His Cabinet officials are busy evading requests for information about
what precisely they have been doing with taxpayer time and money over
the last few years.
We won't be able to fix this overnight, but we have to start
somewhere. We need to make ``Remain in Mexico'' the law of the land and
pass the SAVE Girls Act and give law enforcement the tools they need to
secure the border before we lose complete and total control of it.
(Ms. HIRONO assumed the Chair.)