[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 84 (Monday, May 19, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2960-S2962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, it is no secret to the people of Texas 
that they

[[Page S2961]]

carried a disproportionate share of the burden from President Biden's 
mismanagement of the southern border during the last 4 years.
  In an attempt to shield our State from this crisis of historic mass 
migration, drug trafficking, and human trafficking, Governor Abbott and 
our State leadership initiated something called Operation Lone Star, 
which resulted in the apprehension of more than a half million illegal 
immigrants by Texas law enforcement. Since the start of this mission, 
law enforcement in Texas has arrested more than 50,000 criminals, built 
more than 240 miles of border barrier, and seized more than a half 
billion deadly doses of fentanyl. Governor Abbott has said that this 
effort enabled Texas to reduce illegal immigration across the State 
border by 87 percent.
  But these efforts were not without cost to Texas taxpayers. And, 
recall, this is an international border, which by definition means it 
is a Federal responsibility. But what is the State supposed to do when 
the Federal Government simply drops the ball or refuses to enforce the 
law?
  Operation Lone Star cost my State billions of dollars, and this was 
only necessary because the Federal Government simply abdicated its 
responsibility.
  Last week, I introduced legislation to fulfill Governor Abbott's 
request that the State be reimbursed for the more than $11 billion that 
the State of Texas has had to spend on border enforcement to fill the 
gaps left by President Biden's open-border policies. My State Border 
Security Assistance Act will provide funds to the Department of Justice 
and the Department of Homeland Security to reimburse States for actions 
they took after President Biden's failure to secure the border. It will 
reimburse States for the cost of border wall construction, border 
surveillance, and the apprehension, detention, and prosecution of 
individuals who violate U.S. laws.
  This legislation will appropriate the funds needed to reimburse 
Texas, and it will sunset at the end of the Trump administration, 
returning any remaining money to the U.S. Treasury.
  While this effort is supported by the entire Republican Texas 
delegation, my colleague and fellow Texan Congressman Chip Roy, a 
member of the Rules Committee, is taking the lead on similar 
legislation in the House. I am thankful for his partnership and his 
leadership in this effort.
  But there is no doubt that this historic crisis is a direct result of 
President Biden's policies. Starting on the campaign trail, President 
Biden invited the massive wave of illegal immigration to the United 
States by essentially holding up a big ``Welcome'' sign. Illegal 
migrants from around the world cheered President Biden's election and 
his open-border policies, and the Biden-Harris administration did not 
disappoint them.
  President Biden abused our immigration processes and rolled out the 
red carpet to let in millions of unvetted illegal migrants, and the 
number he let in through illegitimate means does not even account for 
the millions more of ``got-aways,'' which is what the Border Patrol 
calls them--people trying to actively evade law enforcement activity.
  President Biden couldn't have been more destructive on border 
security if he had tried. Early in his Presidency, he ended Trump's 
``Remain in Mexico'' policy that had been remarkably effective. The 
Biden administration halted construction of President Trump's border 
wall and, instead, used Federal funds to store already-paid-for wall 
materials.
  As this crisis continued to evolve, President Biden ended title 42, 
the COVID-era policy that was our last line of defense when President 
Biden refused to do anything else to limit the flow of illegal 
immigration.
  After undoing all of the successful policies of the first Trump 
administration, President Biden then decided to circumvent Congress and 
attempted to make illegal immigration legal by abusing authorities 
under the Immigration and Nationality Act. His Department of Homeland 
Security actually created an app called the CBP One--or the Customs and 
Border Protection app--which allowed migrants to register in advance, 
to schedule an appointment to then be released into the interior of the 
United States.
  Another Biden-Harris administration program allowed up to 30,000 
migrants a month to enter from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 
They were allowed to enter without any questions, any vetting, and they 
were also given work permits so they could then compete with American 
citizens and people legally in the United States.
  Of course, we know the tragic consequences of these misguided 
policies resulted in a crisis of mass illegal immigration but not just 
illegal immigration. It also included human trafficking and drug 
trafficking across our southern border. During all 4 years of the Biden 
administration, the number of illegal migrant encounters with Customs 
and Border Protection totaled more than 10 million--10 million--people 
from around the world showing up at the border, only to be waved 
through by the Biden-Harris administration. There were more than 1.7 
million known ``got-aways'' who evaded Border Patrol entirely and are 
roaming freely somewhere in the interior of the country, up to who 
knows what.
  Fentanyl, which has taken far too many lives in this country, 
particularly those of our youngsters, is made with Chinese precursor 
chemicals that were smuggled through the open border and, as I said, 
have taken far too many innocent lives. There can be no question about 
who is responsible for this crisis of gross proportion. The 
responsibility belongs with President Biden and his misguided policies.
  This has become even more obvious when we look at the great success 
that President Trump has had in securing the border in a few short 
months and actually reversing the ongoing crisis. After 4-year highs of 
illegal immigration, Customs and Border Protection is now facing record 
lows in border encounters. As soon as President Trump was elected but 
even before he took office, the numbers began to go down because people 
understood that they would no longer be able to cross the border 
indiscriminately and without proper legal credentials. In November and 
December of last year, encounters were at their lowest levels between 
ports of entry since August of 2020. And for the first 2 weeks of 
January this year, Customs and Border Protection encounters were nearly 
50 percent lower than they were at the same point in 2021, at the start 
of the Biden administration.
  During the latter half of the month, when President Trump actually 
took office, apprehensions fell by a staggering 85 percent compared to 
the same period in 2024. And during the entire month of January, there 
were less than 1,500 apprehensions a day, which sounds like a lot but 
it was a 40-percent decline from December of last year. In President 
Trump's first 100 days in office, daily border encounters decreased by 
approximately 95 percent.
  Now, I recall that President Biden and our colleagues across the 
aisle said in the runup to the campaign: We need to pass some more laws 
so that the border can be secured. But what this demonstrates is that 
we didn't need any new laws; we needed a President who would actually 
enforce the law, which is what we got with President Trump. These wins 
by the Trump administration since President Trump was sworn into office 
were a direct result of the deterrent effect created by President 
Trump's policy changes.
  Migrants and the coyotes and the cartels who smuggle people across 
our border along with drugs and engage in all sorts of other illegal 
activity know now that our laws will be enforced under President Trump 
and Secretary Noem, and so they are deterred from even trying, in many 
instances. Why spend $10,000 or so to have a human smuggler try to get 
you into the country if you know that you are unlikely to be successful 
under President Trump's policies? That is the deterrent effect of 
actually enforcing the law, something President Biden refused to do.
  This is pretty basic stuff. This is not rocket science. Instead of 
rolling out the welcome mat like President Biden, President Trump began 
his second administration by pulling up the drawbridge. On day one of 
his administration, President Trump declared a national emergency at 
the southern border, giving him flexibility, under our laws, to restore 
order. He ended the disastrous policies of catch-and-release and 
reinstated his own tested and proven ``Remain in Mexico'' policy.

[[Page S2962]]

  Secretary Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, began her tenure 
as the head of President Trump's Homeland Security agenda by sending a 
clear message that she intends to enforce the laws that prevent illegal 
immigration. But she didn't stop there. Under her leadership, 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, arrests 
have increased by more than 600 percent. This includes arrests of 
criminal migrants, which have more than doubled. President Trump and 
Secretary Noem returned to a commonsense, case-by-case approach to 
humanitarian parole, which had been abused under the Biden 
administration, and they have clawed back about $80 million spent by 
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to house illegal 
immigrants in luxury hotels in places like New York City.
  These policies were part of the reason President Trump got elected. 
What we had on November 5 was a referendum on President Biden's border 
policies, and obviously the voters preferred President Trump's 
approach.
  But my point is that, in the 4 years of the Biden administration, 
somebody had to deal with this flow of humanity and drugs and 
trafficking across the border; and in my State, my Governor and the 
State leadership, to their credit, stepped up. Texans have had to bear 
the brunt of open borders, rampant crime, and deadly fentanyl for the 
past 4 years.
  I am very thankful to President Trump and Secretary Noem for their 
leadership in ensuring that Americans and Texans once again are safe 
and secure, but the damage done by President Biden and his policies 
must be undone. It must be rectified. Congress must reimburse the State 
of Texas for the costs incurred for filling in for our then-absentee 
President.
  I will continue working with President Trump, Governor Abbott, and 
the entire Texas delegation, as well as Senator John Thune and Speaker 
Johnson, to ensure that this priority is included in the reconciliation 
bill.
  President Biden abdicated his duty to keep our citizens safe, and the 
State of Texas must be made whole for its efforts to protect Texans and 
the rest of the country from the consequences of his misguided 
policies.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

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