Cedar Rapids Today

On day one of his presidency, Joe Biden rolled back key Trump-era immigration policies that had effectively reduced illegal immigration and kept our border secure. In doing so, he sent a message to migrants that crossing our border illegally would result in amnesty rather than deportation, and that pursuing legal channels was no longer necessary. Biden also gave the green light to human smugglers and cartels to exploit vulnerabilities at the border for drug and human trafficking operations – often with deadly consequences.

It’s no surprise that, since Biden took office, there have been more than 5 million illegal immigrant apprehensions at our southern border and at least 1.3 million “gotaways” – those who evade detection and are now in our country with little to no way to know who or where they are.

Additionally, Biden has significantly and intentionally weakened immigration enforcement. For example, when a federal judge halted the president’s initial effort to put a moratorium on all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations and allow illegal immigrants to live in our country without any consequences for breaking our immigration laws, the president still implemented severe restrictions on deportations.

Actions have consequences. And the consequence of Biden’s intentionally watered-down enforcement policies is record-high illegal crossings and record-low deportations.

Biden has made it clear his administration has no plan to address this crisis. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spends his time simply parroting the lie that our border is secure, and Vice President Kamala Harris, our supposed “border czar,” would rather seek guidance from foreign nations than from U.S. Border Patrol agents. Meanwhile, my colleagues and I saw the crisis on the ground firsthand, sought input from those on the frontlines, and used their feedback to craft policies to restore border security.

Republicans’ effort to restore the rule of law at our southern border is especially important now that Biden has allowed Title 42, a Trump-era border policy that enabled Border Patrol agents to quickly expel illegal immigrants, to expire without a mitigation plan in place to address a surge of illegal immigration.

As Americans watched the situation at our border deteriorate in real time, the Biden administration did absolutely nothing; in contrast, House Republicans passed the Secure the Border Act, a conservative border security and immigration package to meaningfully address this devastating humanitarian and safety crisis.

This bill forces the Biden administration to restart border wall construction (instead of letting taxpayer paid-for border wall materials rust away), reduces incentives for illegal immigration and improves the asylum system, and provides Border Patrol agents with critical border security technology. It also increases the number of Border Patrol agents and provides them with bonus pay for retention to show our appreciation for their essential work on the frontlines of this crisis.

Our legislation also focuses on ending the Biden administration’s practice of catch-and-release. Americans shouldn’t have to accept the Biden administration’s taxypayer-funded transportation of illegal immigrants throughout the country.  

The bill also closes loopholes in the asylum process and strengthens protections against human trafficking.

Despite the total chaos ensuing at the southern border, not a single Democrat voted in favor of this common sense border security legislation. Instead, as the Biden administration began releasing illegal immigrants into the U.S. without a court date, House Democrats unveiled legislation that would grant a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants currently in our country – a move that would further incentivize illegal immigration at a time when we need to curtail it the most.

Securing our border is mission critical – this should not be a partisan issue. It is past time for Biden to stop appeasing the far Left and stand with the American people who want – and deserve – an orderly immigration system and secure border.

This piece was originally published in The Washington Examiner on 5/19/2023.

Original source can be found here.