BORDER
The American people are witnessing the devastating effects of President Biden’s open border policy, by not only creating chaos at the US Mexico border, but in the entire country. With heightened terror threats from Afghanistan, the continuous spread of Covid-19, and the recent humanitarian crisis of Haitian migrants, securing and regulating our border is absolutely crucial in keeping our country controlled, functioning, and most importantly, safe from external threats.
Biden has done more to open the southern border than secure it, and record-breaking data from August shows the effects of his decision to stop building the wall and bring back catch-and-release. Border apprehensions remained at a twodecade high, with 208,887 captures in August, a 317% increase from last year. More than 43,000 illegal immigrants were released in the U.S. in August alone. Although apprehensions are skyrocketing, the Biden administration is attempting to end the Remain in Mexico policy, which requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico to await hearings on their requests for refuge in the US. This decision would further overwhelm our southern boundaries and allow for more illegal immigration into our country without regulation.
If these numbers aren’t enough, the recent flood of Haitian migrants to Del Rio, Texas has highlighted this crisis and further exposed the vulnerabilities in our immigration system. Over 12,000 illegal Haitian migrants have been released into the United States without being tested or vaccinated for Covid-19, with Haiti’s vaccine rate below 1%. In order to prevent a crisis like this from happening again, we must enact substantial, commonsense policy changes.
Monday, I visited Del Rio to hear directly from our US Customs and Border Patrol agents (CBP), Texas National Guard and Texas State Troopers. Just in the last 12 months, more than 1.5 million crossings have occurred, more than the last 9 years combined. In just one station within the Del Rio sector, apprehensions have multiplied at an alarming rate, going from 7,400 last year to more than 94,000 in 2021. Agents have detained people from more than 90 countries, including Yemen. Nearly 10,000 individuals with criminal convictions have been arrested in FY2021 attempting to illegally cross the border, compared with just 2,438 in FY2020. While the humanitarian crisis aspect is disturbing, I’m more concerned with the growing national security crisis.
Coming from a family of immigrants, I can personally appreciate and welcome those seeking opportunities and a better life in our country, but Biden’s policies have not allowed for proper, legal immigration. Instead, he has incentivized illegal border crossing that is directly harming our country by dwindling resources, endangering communities, emboldening terror threats, and hurting migrants. I will continue to stand with our CBP agents who experience the impacts of this crisis daily and will work toward creating meaningful legislation to provide them with much-needed resources, advanced technology, and additional support to firmly secure our southern border.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE
As a fiscal conservative, I support low taxes, minimal government debt, and reduced government spending, which is why I am against the Democrats’ $1.2 trillion infrastructure package. This week, House Democrats are attempting to bulldoze through the largest spending and tax increase legislation in our country’s history. The infrastructure bill is directly linked with the outrageous $3.4 trillion tax and spend budget reconciliation bill, a $5.5 trillion package that will further skyrocket inflation, increase taxes, and compromise competition in American business.
Democrats have suggested the bill is fully paid for, but further review shows this bill adds more than $250 billion to our national debt. President Biden and House Democrats are using the infrastructure bill as a gateway to secure the passage of the completely partisan social spending reconciliation bill.
Democrats have made it clear that they have no intention of passing one without the other, which would total $5 trillion in spending before the government is funded for next year and while our country faces an economic crisis. Prices are growing faster than wages, with gas prices up 48.4% and egg prices up 9.9%. Even more startling, the purchasing power of an hour work has declined by 0.7% over the past year. Our fellow Americans are paying more and making less, and the infrastructure package, along with the budget reconciliation package, would only exacerbate this crisis.
Overall, the American people should not have to bear the cost of the Democrats’ agenda. The partisan reconciliation and infrastructure bill, that include minimal true infrastructure projects, are too expensive for our country to endure, and our citizens will feel the effects for generations to come. I will support our country, specifically residents of Oklahoma’s fifth district, by voting against these harmful pieces of legislation.
