One year ago, in response to an unprecedented border crisis stemming from the Biden administration’s policies, House Republicans passed landmark border security legislation. H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, stands as the strongest border security measure passed by a body of Congress and would have significantly reduced illegal crossings and ensuing disorder over the past year.
Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have blocked this bill from being voted on or even held a single hearing on it, while the border situation continues to worsen. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is again attempting to pass a Senate border bill that would only worsen the illegal immigration crisis.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, 7.8 million illegal aliens have been encountered at the southern border — more than the populations of 36 states. Alarmingly, more than 4.6 million of these illegal aliens have been released into the interior, largely through the abuse of legally narrow humanitarian asylum and parole provisions.
American citizens like Laken Riley would likely still be alive today if their assailants (in Riley’s case, an illegal alien from Venezuela) had not been paroled and released into the interior, something that H.R. 2 would have prevented.
The extent of the damage is immense. In May 2023, when the House passed H.R. 2, Border Patrol was encountering 10,000 illegal aliens per day; by December, daily totals exceeded 12,000. Jeh Johnson, former secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama, once stated that 1,000 daily encounters at the border constituted a crisis. During a surge in 2019, Johnson added, “I cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 [encounters] a day looks like.” Sadly, that has become the new normal.
Over this period, the southern border has become a hotspot for criminal and terrorist infiltration. During Biden’s nearly four years in office, Border Patrol has arrested 48,395 individuals with criminal convictions, a 120% increase compared to the 21,936 criminals arrested during the Trump administration.
In fiscal year 2023 alone, Border Patrol encountered 169 known or suspected terrorists attempting to cross the southern border, a record that should alarm every American. These numbers only reflect those who were caught, while an estimated 1.8 million illegal alien “gotaways” have evaded border officials under Biden.
The enactment of H.R. 2 would halt this chaos. The legislation supports a willing president and forces a lawless administration to detain, turn away, or remove illegal aliens, unlike the Biden policy of encouraging border crossings and releasing them into the interior en masse.
Additionally, H.R. 2 prohibits the “CBP One” application from being used by illegal aliens to schedule unlawful entry. Under the Biden administration, CBP One has driven unchecked migration at the border. H.R. 2 also closes various loopholes and addresses incentives created by irrational policies, outdated laws, and flawed judicial decisions.
These reforms have the support of the majority of Americans, who now rank border-related issues as their top concern.
Despite blocking H.R. 2, Senate Democrats, with limited “bipartisan” support, proposed alternative border legislation. This bill embraces the premise of open borders while offering token reforms and maintaining existing laws and loopholes.
The alternative bill fails to stop the president’s parole abuse, creates a new “claim-and-release” process for dubious asylum claims, exempts large groups of illegal aliens from being expelled, and allocates billions to NGOs and Biden’s DHS to continue these practices. It was so ineffective that it failed to progress in the Senate.
One year after the House passage of H.R. 2, dangers from our open border have multiplied. Following Hamas’ attack on Israel, U.S. national security officials warned of heightened terror threats against the United States. Last fall, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that the threat of an attack had “reached a whole other level.”
Drug cartels smuggle substances like fentanyl, which has caused numerous American deaths. Originating in China, fentanyl enters the U.S. in large quantities through the southern border and is responsible for the deaths of about 70,000 Americans annually.
But it’s not just Americans who suffer. Migrants making the trip to America — some for good reasons, some for bad — also endure hardships. Thousands of children are sold into sex trafficking, billions of dollars are extorted by cartels, and many perish on the journey — with a record-breaking 853 deaths along the southern border in fiscal year 2022.
From needless crimes committed against Americans by criminals exploiting these policies to the staggering fiscal and social burdens on cities and states, Americans are bearing the consequences. State and local governments are seeing their resources stretched thin. Texas alone has spent over $13 billion to manage the crisis under Biden, adding to the burdens on local communities.
This must end.
One year ago, at the urging of House conservatives, Republicans united to pass H.R. 2, aiming to establish a genuine national border security policy. Radical open-borders Democrats in the Senate, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, blocked it, and House Republicans have been unwilling to leverage spending, Ukraine, or other issues to force their hand.
We must ensure H.R. 2 reaches the president’s desk and is signed into law. If Congress fails to do that, we will deserve every ounce of blame for what follows.
