[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S55-S56]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, negotiations continue on border security 
reforms to be included in the national security supplemental, and I am 
thankful that after 3 years of chaos at our southern border, Democrats 
have, at least, finally come to the table, because it is long past time 
to get the situation under control.
  As I said, for 3 years--almost since the day President Biden took 
office--we have confronted chaos at our southern border. Rather than 
improving, this crisis has just grown worse and worse with time. Fiscal 
year 2021 saw a recordbreaking 1,734,686 migrant encounters at our 
southern border. Then fiscal year 2022 broke that record, and then 
fiscal year 2023 broke that record.
  And if fiscal year 2024 continues on its current trajectory, we will, 
yet again, end up breaking another record. December reportedly saw a 
staggering 302,000 migrant encounters at our southern border--not only 
the highest December number ever recorded, but the highest number ever 
recorded for any month, period.
  My colleague from Pennsylvania recently compared September's nearly 
270,000 border encounters to having the entire population of Pittsburgh 
crossing our southern border in one month--in one month. The comparison 
is even more apt with December's numbers. We can't afford to have a 
major city's worth of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border 
every single month.
  As border cities have long known and as major Democratic cities are 
now finding to their cost, this simply isn't sustainable. New York 
City, which has seen 150,000-plus migrants enter the city since last 
spring, is facing cuts to city services as a result of the influx. In 
fact, just yesterday, it was reported that Mayor Adams is actually 
temporarily removing students from their classrooms to house migrants.
  It is not just New York that is overwhelmed; so are cities like 
Denver and Chicago. The mayor of Chicago recently noted that the 
situation his city and others are facing is ``unsustainable.'' So there 
are massive practical problems associated with having a city's worth of 
people coming across our southern border each and every single month.
  But that isn't the worst of it. The even bigger concern is the 
national security crisis that this represents. Our Nation cannot be 
secure while we have hundreds of thousands of migrants flooding across 
our southern border each month, frequently to end up released into the 
United States with court dates that are, literally, years into the 
future. The sheer volume smooths the way for criminals, terrorists, and 
other dangerous individuals to make their way into our country.
  And there are dangerous individuals trying to make their way into our 
country. Make no mistake about that. During the first 2 months of 
fiscal year 2024 alone, 30 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist were 
apprehended on our southern border. That is, literally, one every other 
day. Fiscal year 2023 saw 169 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist 
apprehended at our southern border, which was more than the previous 
six fiscal years combined. If we continue on our current trajectory, we 
will break the 2023 record this year. And that is deeply concerning.
  Those are just the individuals the Border Patrol is actually 
apprehending. We have no way of knowing how many dangerous individuals 
have entered our country over the past years without--without being 
apprehended. Since the beginning of fiscal year 2021, there have been 
more than 1.7 million known ``got-aways,'' and those are individuals 
the Border Patrol saw but was unable to apprehend. Since October 1 
alone, there have been more than 83,000 known ``got-aways.'' That is 
83,000 individuals entering our country without our knowing who they 
are, why they are here, or where in the United States they are going. 
And there is no way--no way--of telling how many unknown ``got-aways'' 
there have been.
  With the current chaos at our southern border, there is no question 
that some individuals are managing to make it into the United States 
completely undetected.
  With so many illegal immigrants arriving at our border these days, 
planning to get caught so they can take advantage of the Biden 
administration's lax asylum and parole policies, it is especially 
concerning to see these ``got-aways'' who are working to evade Border 
Patrol. Some of them may, indeed, be entering the United States simply 
hoping for a better life, but it is highly likely that a number of them 
have more malign intentions.
  I mean, think about it. You look at the number of people just in the 
month of October: 1,569 convicted criminals got in the country, 50 gang 
members, 93 people who have had warrants for their arrest, and 12 
terrorists. That was one month--just one month. And those are the 
people that were apprehended. Think about those ``got-aways,'' which I 
mentioned--83,000 known ``got-aways'' since October 1--and then the 
unknown ``got-aways'' who you assume are people who know how to evade 
law enforcement and figured out how to get into the country illegally. 
The point simply is this: Our southern border has become a portal for 
people with all kinds of malign interests to get into this country.

  Now, arguably, there was a time when people came here from places 
like Central and South America in pursuit of a better life; and, 
obviously, you can't blame them for leaving the places where they lived 
and wanting to live in the United States. They come here legally. We 
have ways of people getting into this country legally; laws that should 
be followed. We are a nation of laws. But the fact that people like 
terrorists, like criminals, like cartels who are trafficking in who 
knows what--weapons, drugs, humans--we know how many people are dying 
every year from fentanyl in this country--our southern border is out of 
control. It is a danger to our national security, and it is a threat to 
the safety and security of every community in this country, whether you 
are on the border or not.
  Now, people used to think of this issue as something that just 
affects people along the southern border. It is not. I just mentioned 
New York, Chicago, Denver, facing very, very hard

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decisions because they don't know how to manage this huge influx of 
migrants coming into their communities. And, again, many of them are 
coming here for reasons that are, perhaps, understandable; 
nevertheless, still in violation of our laws. But now what is most 
concerning is the very fact that so many of these people being 
apprehended have criminal records, are members of gangs, or, worse yet, 
are on the Terrorist Watchlist.
  What do you think they are doing trying to get into this country? 
Seems pretty obvious to me. And some day, we are going to face 
something in this country, they are going to trace back some incident 
harmful to America that they are going to trace back to somebody who 
came across the southern border. And this administration and these lax 
policies and their unwillingness to enforce the law are going to be 
responsible for it.
  Mr. President, we are a nation of immigrants. I have said that many 
times. My own grandfather was an immigrant. Immigrants have helped 
build this country into what it is today. I am a strong supporter of 
legal immigration. As I said, we have ways for people to come here; but 
we are, first and foremost and fundamentally and foundationally, a 
nation of laws. We will only be able to remain a nation of laws as long 
as the law is respected and enforced, meaning this: Immigration needs 
to be legal. We need to know who is coming into our country and why.
  So I am very much hoping that in the very near future, the ongoing 
border negotiations will produce real reforms that will help us finally 
regain operational control of our southern border; because 3 years of 
chaos is 3 years too many. It is time to get this done.
  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. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.