[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 125 (Thursday, July 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S3438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. President, on an entirely different matter, ``The 
administration's plan is working as intended.'' That is the Department 
of Homeland Security's assessment of the situation at our southern 
border since President Biden ended title 42 authorities back in May.
  On the Biden administration's watch, Customs and Border Protection 
reported record-shattering numbers of illegal border crossings. Yet 
Washington Democrats would like us to believe that with the flip of a 
switch, they have brought the crisis they helped create under control. 
Believe me, I wish that were true. But the American communities dealing 
with the effects of President Biden's open borders, like the record 
flows of deadly drugs, know different.

  And so do the thousands of migrants caught up in this 
administration's humanitarian catastrophe along the border. Here, 
unfortunately, are the facts. While the Biden administration crows 
about migrant encounters declining, the month of May 2023 saw nearly 
35,000 inadmissible persons arriving at southern border points of 
entry. That is double the May total from just a year before. And last 
month, in June, the number jumped to over 45,000.
  Meanwhile, the number of FBI Terror Watch List suspects arrested at 
the border thus far this fiscal year has already set a new annual 
record. President Biden's HHS Department still can't seem to account 
for over 85,000 children who arrived at the border unaccompanied and 
were released into the United States.
  I know several of our colleagues on this side of the aisle will have 
more to say on the subject later today, but if this is what the Biden 
administration calls a plan that is working as intended, I hate to see 
what they think failure looks like.