On the recordMarch 22, 2023
I rise today to join my esteemed colleague from the State of North Carolina to discuss the situation at the border. This is an ongoing crisis, and it needs to be addressed. Our Nation continues to face an unprecedented crisis at the U.S.- Mexico border, and one that is due to the Biden administration's policies, pure and simple. It is a function of the Biden administration policies. It is amazing that we have had DHS Secretary Mayorkas in front of our committees, and we asked him: What are you doing to stem the flow of illegal immigration at the border? He sits there, and he tells us: Oh, we have operational control. That is absolutely ridiculous. It is absolutely wrong. For fiscal year 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, encountered almost 2.4 million individuals attempting to illegally cross the southern border. That is 2.4 million crossing illegally. That is operational control? And for him to sit there and look at us and say: Oh, yeah, we have control. And 2.4 million last year were crossing illegally. This is an increase of 37 percent from fiscal year 2021 and a 419-percent increase--four times as many--as in 2020. Additionally, since October, CBP has reported that over 1 million individuals from more than 140 different countries--from more than 140 different countries--have been encountered attempting to illegally cross the southern border.…
