[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 187 (Monday, November 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5471-S5473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, as we all are painfully aware, at home 
and around the world, America is facing a vast array of security 
threats. There is war in the Middle East, war in Europe, growing 
instability and threats of conflict in the Indo-Pacific, and, of 
course,

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there is the unprecedented security crisis at our own southern border.
  Unlike threats in other parts of the world, the border crisis wasn't 
caused by our adversaries. It wasn't caused by the actions of an 
authoritarian leader or events beyond our control. The border crisis is 
an unforced error. It is a result of intentional decisions and policy 
positions taken by the Biden administration.
  For nearly 3 years, President Biden and leaders in his administration 
have sent a signal to people around the world that America's southern 
border is open. All you need to do is show up. Clearly, their message 
came through loud and clear, much to the delight of the criminal 
organizations that transport people--human smuggling--and the drug 
dealers who have exploited this vulnerability. Clearly, they got the 
message, too, and they are getting richer every day.
  Since President Biden took office, we have logged nearly 6.3 million 
illegal border crossings, plus at least 1.7 million known ``got-
aways.'' Now, the Border Patrol calls a ``got-away'' somebody who has 
been detected on a camera or on a radar screen, but when they show up 
to try to detain them, they simply have vanished. Those are the ``got-
aways,'' and there were 1.7 million known ``got-aways'' in just 3 
years. So that is, all told, roughly 8 million people crossing our 
border during the Biden administration.
  People from every part of the globe are showing up at our border. In 
a single year, migrants from 174 different countries crossed our 
southern border. What they have learned to do is to claim asylum, and 
then they know they will be released to await a potential future court 
date that may be as long as 10 years in the future. In the meantime, 
they get on with their lives. They marry. They have children who are 
American citizens. And the simple truth is, they are not going 
anywhere. We know that if they did show up for their immigration court 
hearing, only about 15 percent would legally qualify for asylum under 
the current law.
  So word has gotten out that under the Biden administration, our 
southern border is open, and if you show up, you will be released into 
the interior. That has provided an enormous magnet or, in the 
nomenclature of the Border Patrol, they call that a pull factor. It is 
a huge pull factor or magnet for people around the world, saying: All 
have you to do is show up, and the Biden administration will release 
you into the interior of the United States.
  So it should be no surprise that migrants are pouring across the 
border in record numbers. So is fentanyl, which took the lives of 
71,000 Americans last year alone.
  We also know there are people on the Terrorist Watchlist who are 
showing up at the border, but what I really worry about are those on 
the Terrorist Watchlist who were part of the 1.7 million ``got-aways.'' 
In other words, we don't know how many people on the Terrorist 
Watchlist have made their way into the interior of the United States as 
a result of the Biden border crisis.
  So what do we do? Well, the Biden administration thinks that all we 
need to do is spend more money on the current system. We know that 
tends to be a common response around here--just throw more money at a 
problem. They tried to solve the inflation problem by spending hundreds 
of billions of dollars on things like EV tax credits and a supersized 
IRS. That gave us a 40-year high inflation rate that still hasn't 
abated yet. Then they tried to address the student loan crisis by 
shifting the debt from the people who owed it and who borrowed it and 
who are legally responsible for it to taxpayers--another massive fail. 
Now they claim they can solve the border crisis by writing another big 
check. Needless to say, we should all be skeptical.
  To be clear, funding is important, but funding for the right things 
is even more important. In order for anything to change at the border, 
we need real, substantive policy changes.
  Last month, the White House issued a supplemental funding request to 
respond to major national security threats we are facing today, 
including the border, but, as I and others have pointed out, the border 
portion of President Biden's funding request is completely inadequate. 
His request would actually worsen the border crisis--such as a request 
for more noncustodial housing options for migrants in expedited removal 
proceedings. This would allow migrants who are on the verge of being 
deported to be released into the United States--the opposite of what we 
should be doing. It would constitute yet another pull factor for anyone 
considering a journey to the border.
  On the whole, the Biden administration's request demonstrates exactly 
how nonserious they are about solving this crisis. One example is their 
request for more detention beds. Now, to be clear, more detention beds 
are needed, but I think it would be helpful for President Biden and 
some of our colleagues to review the math here. Border Patrol has 
roughly 20,000 detention beds now, which are strictly for short-
term detention. ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has 
another 20,000 beds for migrants in expedited removal. Now, those may 
sound like big numbers, but the beds fill up quickly. In September, 
nearly 270,000 migrants crossed the southern border. That is an average 
of 9,000 a day. If we were to start with a clean slate, all the Border 
Patrol beds would be filled in 2 days.

  Migrants who are placed in expedited removal and are seeking asylum 
are supposed to complete a credible fear screening--a process which 
takes approximately 13 days. If the administration wanted to do things 
by the book--in other words, if they wanted to follow the law--we would 
need the capacity to hold every person who crossed the border for 2 
weeks just to figure out whether they had a serious claim for asylum 
and then a longer period to evaluate those claims, and what they have 
requested clearly will not allow that to happen. Just to reemphasize 
the point, that is just to figure out if an asylum claim is plausible 
on its face before an immigration court determines whether it is 
supported by adequate evidence. That success rate is roughly 15 
percent, which means the people who are waiting in line--those 15 
percent who have legitimate claims--can't even get their claims heard 
because of all the people who have no legitimate claims clogging the 
dockets of the immigration courts.
  So, as you can see, at current levels, we would need hundreds of 
thousands of detention beds. That is because the Biden administration 
has allowed this crisis to grow to such epic proportions that it can't 
be fixed by just more officers or a small increase in detention beds. 
Nine thousand illegal border crossings a day is evidence of a policy 
problem, not just a funding problem. More funding would actually be 
useless until we address the pull factors that are bringing these 
people here.
  Last week, a group of Senate Republicans released a proposal that 
could serve as a starting point for negotiations in the Senate, but, 
unlike the President's request, it includes real, substantive policy 
changes to address the pull factors that are drawing people from around 
the world to our southern border.
  In order to restore some control, we need deterrence. We need 
consequences for people breaking the rules and trying to come in 
illegally. We need to show people who have no legitimate claim to 
remain in the United States that if they come, they will not be able to 
stay. That is what will provide the consequences and deterrence that 
will prevent massive numbers of additional migrants from attempting the 
trip to our border.
  If they know they are unlikely to be successful, they are unlikely to 
spend the thousands of dollars they have to spend now to the criminal 
organizations to transport them to our border. If they don't come, that 
will alleviate some of the massive influx of humanity which has 
prevented the Border Patrol from interdicting the drugs that took the 
lives of 108,000 Americans last year alone. That is where the criminal 
organizations or cartels are also getting rich--smuggling people, 
smuggling drugs.
  I continue to be dumbfounded by the unwillingness of our Democratic 
colleagues and the President of the United States to recognize what a 
disaster this really is. Since President Biden took office, our country 
has logged more illegal border crossings than it did under the previous 
two administrations combined.
  We know that migrants are placing a massive strain on many of our 
major

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American cities, including sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago. 
At the same time, fentanyl and other dangerous drugs are killing our 
youth.
  Fentanyl or synthetic opioids are now the leading cause of death for 
18- to 45-year-olds in America. Do you think that will get somebody's 
attention here in the Nation's Capital or at the White House? No 
community has been spared from the devastation of these drugs.
  As I said, last fiscal year so far, we have seen about 169 people on 
the Terrorist Watchlist encountered at the border. Last year, the 
Border Patrol detained more people on the Terrorist Watchlist than it 
did in the previous 6 years combined. So our adversaries clearly see 
this as an opportunity to enter the United States with nobody the 
wiser. And, of course, as I said, this doesn't account for all the 
people who came in who were on the Terrorist Watchlist or who do have 
evil designs on our country who were part of the 1.7 million ``got-
aways.''
  It is no overstatement to say that a border crisis is a massive 
security threat to our country. It is putting every community in 
America at risk. If our Democratic colleagues are willing to help 
America's friends and allies like Israel and Ukraine, they should be 
willing to help their own constituents and help defend their own 
country against this influx of humanity.
  Biden's mishandling of the border has created a major national 
security risk, and the Senate deserves and needs to treat this matter 
with all seriousness. Republicans are not interested in just throwing 
money at the current system. Wasteful, inefficient spending is not the 
solution here. We need to fundamentally shift the dynamics at the 
southern border, and that will require real, substantial policy 
changes.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Butler). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.