On the recordDecember 6, 2023
Madam President, earlier this year, I visited our Nation's southern border. My colleagues and I joined several patrols to see the problems firsthand, and at each of our stops, what we saw was very, very alarming. Dozens of people sat on the ground at midnight at the border, waiting to go to a crowded processing center for illegal immigrants. As we patrolled the Rio Grande Valley, we passed trail after trail used by illegal migrants to traffic drugs and people into our country. Meanwhile, we walked past an open, unfinished border wall. We toured a raided stash house, where a weapon was found, an illegal immigrant was detained, and a human smuggler was arrested. These experiences--they just scratch the surface of the chaos overwhelming our southern border. Our border is a frenzy--a frenzy--of illegal activity, and because of neglect and inaction from this administration, this disaster is out of control. There is a humanitarian crisis at our southern border. There is a deadly drug crisis at our southern border. Perhaps most critically, there is a national security crisis at our southern border. Since President Biden took office, over 8 million migrants have illegally crossed our southern border. Border Patrol agents have seized over 51,000 pounds of fentanyl. We have seen an uptick in encounters with illegal migrants from adversaries like China.…





