[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S830-S831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Border Security

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, the Governor of the great State of Texas, 
Greg Abbott, has made a request to the U.S. Congress to reimburse our 
State for the expenses we have incurred in attempting to combat the 
Texas-Mexico border security crisis during the 4 years of the Biden 
administration. I am proud to support this request, along with my 
colleague Senator Cruz and Members of the Texas delegation in the House 
of Representatives.
  Securing the Nation's borders is the responsibility of the Federal 
Government, plain and simple. Given the division of responsibilities 
between the States and the Federal Government, there is no doubt that 
this is a Federal responsibility. For 4 years, though, President Biden 
and Vice President Harris and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro 
Mayorkas intentionally and willfully refused to enforce the laws on the 
books to keep the border secure and to keep our Nation safe.
  Even before his first day in the Office, President Biden rolled out 
the welcome mat to illegal immigrants in speeches during his campaign, 
inviting--inviting--what ensued.
  Early in his Presidency, President Biden ended President Trump's very 
effective policy known as ``Remain in Mexico.'' This, very simply, 
provided that those who sought asylum needed to remain outside of the 
borders of the United States while their asylum claim was litigated and 
ultimately decided, knowing that only about 15 percent of people who 
claim asylum ultimately are awarded that by an immigration court.
  The Biden administration ended construction of President Trump's 
border wall, and, instead, spent Federal funds to store those materials 
that had already been paid for, squandering taxpayer dollars in the 
process.
  And as this crisis was evolving and worsening, President Biden ended 
title 42 authority, the COVID-era policy that was the last string in 
place helping to keep the lid on the illegal immigration crisis. So not 
only did the Biden administration turn a blind eye to what was an 
international responsibility and thus a Federal Government 
responsibility, they went a step further and actually actively enacted 
policies to make it worse.

  The Department of Homeland Security invited more illegal immigration 
when it created an app for your phone called the CBP One app, Customs 
and Border Protection app, which allowed immigrants to literally 
schedule an appointment at a port of entry in order to illegally enter 
the United States. Of course, even those who did not claim asylum were 
simply paroled or released into the interior, along with a work permit.
  Here, again, there was no manner of deterrence saying: Well, if you 
want to enter the United States, you need to do so according to the 
rules in an orderly basis.
  Essentially, all the rules were set aside, and a big green light and 
a welcome mat were laid out for anybody and everybody who wanted to 
come--and come they did. Tens of millions of people--we really don't 
know exactly how many--took advantage of this open border policy by the 
Biden administration. Let's say 10 million in round numbers. We know 
that about 1.7 million people were ``got-aways,'' which is what the 
Border Patrol calls those who were evading law enforcement who 
presumably are up to no good because they know they can't enter 
otherwise because they have either a criminal record or they are 
transporting drugs or engaged in some other illicit activity.
  At the same time that the Biden administration laid out the welcome 
mat to anybody and everybody who wanted to come to the United States 
across our border, they issued hundreds of millions of dollars in 
reimbursements to nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations that 
helped facilitate this illegal immigration through FEMA's Emergency 
Food and Shelter Program. Instead of meeting their responsibilities to 
secure the border, they essentially funded those organizations that 
facilitated it.
  Vice President Harris was assigned the task, as we know, of being the 
border czar that helped manage this crisis, but she failed to even 
understand the assignment and failed utterly at completing that 
assignment.
  She visited the Texas-Mexico border once in sort of what I would call 
a driveby during the 4 years that President Biden and Vice President 
Harris were in office.
  It is safe to say she had no concept or clue about what conditions 
were like on the border and how dangerous this open border policy was. 
Clearly she didn't care and was unwilling to do anything about it.
  On her one and only visit to the Texas border, she steered clear of 
the hotspots, like the Rio Grande Valley, which was the very epicenter 
of the border crisis at the time. Instead, she went to El Paso for a 
sanitized, made-for-TV visit. Different parts of the border are very 
different, and instead of going to the place where she knew the action 
would be, she went to a place that was relatively calm and sedate. But 
she did it for a TV hit and no other reason.
  In 2024, when the Democratic Party deposed President Biden as their 
nominee and coronated Vice President Harris as their Presidential 
candidate, she suddenly found herself campaigning to be President of 
the United States, but she actually shirked from the responsibilities 
President Biden had given her as the border czar and claimed that she 
was never actually tasked to oversee the migration crisis.
  Suffice it to say that the Biden administration's handling of border 
security was an unmitigated disaster. As a consequence, the State of 
Texas, which has 1,200 miles of common border with Mexico, was 
basically left up to its own devices. We had no choice but to pick up 
the slack and try to secure some semblance of basic safety for Texans 
and the rest of the country. Everything the State of Texas did to fill 
the gap inured not just to the benefit of the 31 million people who 
live in Texas but to the entire Nation.
  Governor Abbott initiated something called Operation Lone Star, which 
resulted in the apprehension of more than half a million illegal 
immigrants by Texas law enforcement. Thanks to Operation Lone Star, law 
enforcement arrested more than 50,000 criminals trying to make their 
way across the border. Texas also built 240 miles of border barriers 
when the Federal Government refused to do its job. And officers across 
the State have seized more than half a billion deadly doses of 
fentanyl, which is the No. 1 cause of death for young people between 
the age of 18 and 45 in this country. As a result of Operation Lone 
Star, without any help at all from the Federal Government, Texas was 
able to reduce illegal immigration into the State by 87 percent.
  Unfortunately, the State had to spend nearly $4.8 billion--money that 
should have been provided by the Federal Government--Texas taxpayers 
had to foot the bill for $4.8 billion on walls and barriers, local 
grants to counties and cities, processing criminal arrests, and moving 
migrants out of small Texas towns. The State also spent $3.6 billion to 
deploy the National Guard for building border barriers, guarding and 
constructing those barriers, and assisting Border Patrol and Customs

[[Page S831]]

and Border Protection. Another $2.25 billion has gone toward personnel 
cost for Texas State troopers, law enforcement who were responsible for 
repelling additional illegal immigrants, arresting those who were 
committing crimes, as well as transnational gang members, cartel 
members, human smugglers, and human traffickers.
  But this was just the start. There were costs associated with the 
prosecution of border crimes. At Operation Lone Star's criminal 
processing centers, State game wardens had to pitch in to help control 
the Rio Grande River on the border to help prevent illegal entries, and 
criminal processing centers required health and safety services.
  We are all familiar with the saying ``There is no such thing as a 
free lunch,'' but President Biden and Vice President Harris failed to 
pony up for 4 years and then asked Texans to pick up the tab for their 
bill. All told, Governor Abbott and the State legislature had to spend 
more than $11 billion to make up for the Biden administration's 
blunders and malfeasance and nonfeasance when it came to border 
security and immigration.
  So it is not particularly complicated. Securing the country's borders 
is a function of the Federal Government. And $11 billion is no small 
amount of money for a State--particularly one that doesn't have an 
income tax--to provide that benefits the rest of the country. But this 
is no different than when the Federal Government steps in to help 
States that have to deal with extraordinary expenses during the wake of 
a natural disaster, as they did for Texas in the case of Hurricane 
Harvey. But instead of a natural disaster, what we had during the 4 
years of the Biden administration was a manmade disaster.
  While every State became a border State during the last 
administration, there are costs that Texas had to shoulder that our 
neighbors had not. It is just fair and right and just for Texas 
taxpayers to be made whole for the border security responsibilities it 
took on as a result of President Biden's dereliction of duty.
  I am proud to support Governor Abbott's request for the State to be 
reimbursed. My colleagues on the House and Senate Appropriations 
Committees should expect me and Senator Cruz and the entire Texas 
delegation to be strongly advocating for reimbursement for Texas in the 
coming weeks. I look forward to working with them in order to make this 
a reality.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.