[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 6, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, an early report suggests that the Biden 
administration may have set yet another record at our southern border--
and not the good kind. If this early report is accurate, the number of 
migrant encounters at our southern border in January is the highest 
January number ever recorded. That, of course, would follow December's 
recordbreaking number of migrant encounters, which was a staggering 
309,034. That is not only the highest December number ever recorded but 
the highest number for any month ever recorded. Before that, of course, 
there was September's recordbreaking number, and the list goes on.
  The Biden administration has presided over a truly unprecedented 
crisis at our Nation's border. We have had 3 years of recordbreaking 
illegal immigration under the Biden administration. 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. They didn't break that 2021 record by a small 
margin, either. Fiscal year 2023 exceeded fiscal year 2021 by a 
staggering 740,000-plus encounters. If the current trajectory 
continues, it is likely that fiscal year 2024 will break the record yet 
again.
  All told, since President Biden took office, there have been more 
than 7 million--million--migrant encounters at our southwest border, 
and that is just counting the individuals who were stopped by Customs 
and Border Protection. Since January 2021, when President Biden took 
office, there have been more than 1.7 million known ``got-aways,'' and 
those are individuals the Border Patrol saw but was unable to 
apprehend. We have no idea how many unknown--unknown--``got-aways'' 
there have been over the same period.
  I could keep throwing out numbers all day, but needless to say, my 
point is this: The situation at our southern border is a disaster, it 
is unprecedented, and it is untenable. We have to get this crisis under 
control.
  I am thankful for Senator Lankford's efforts to address the chaos at 
our southern border. Senator Lankford has spent months now working to 
develop serious border security reform, and his work has further 
highlighted the ways the Biden administration has invited illegal 
immigration and undermined security at our Nation's border.
  The worst border crisis on record will be a defining feature of 
President Biden's legacy, in addition to the high cost of inflation 
imposed on American families and the weakening of America's standing on 
the world's stage.