By Congresswoman Stephanie Bice
The crisis at the southern border has endangered every single state and community in our nation. Due to the policies of this administration, we are seeing increased national security threats from terrorists entering the country, human and drug trafficking, and countless deaths from fentanyl. Our borders haven’t always been this wide-open. The actions and executive orders of President Biden and Vice President Harris have worsened this crisis.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, illegal immigrant crossings have nearly doubled, reaching record highs. Since 2021, we have seen more than 10 million encounters of illegal immigrants nationwide, with over 8.3 million of those occurring at our southern border. In just the last month alone, we have experienced 107,503 encounters. This is an alarming trend that far exceeds the threshold of 1,000 encounters a day, which Obama administration DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson deemed a “crisis.”
On top of this, newly released data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) paints a troubling picture. There are currently 425,431 convicted criminals and 222,141 individuals with pending criminal charges living freely in our country. Among these are over 62,000 convicted of assault, nearly 15,000 for burglary, and over 13,000 convicted of homicide. To add to this, over 350 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have attempted to cross the southern border, with some successfully making it into our country. These individuals even include some with known ties to ISIS and other terrorist groups. We cannot ignore the chilling implications of this data.
However, it doesn’t stop there. Under Vice President Harris’s oversight, nearly 300,000 unaccompanied minors are unaccounted for—children who could be at risk of trafficking and exploitation. In many cases, these individuals undertook the dangerous journey to get to America’s southern border while being led by the cartels, who have been empowered under this administration. This serious humanitarian crisis cannot continue.
The drug crisis also continues to devastate our communities. In August alone, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized close to 1,700 pounds of fentanyl, with drug-related arrests soaring 130% compared to the previous administration. Over 200,000 Americans have lost their lives due to illegal drugs flowing across our southern border. This is a direct consequence of weak border policies that fail to address the security risks posed by criminal cartels.
The data is irrefutable. We are witnessing a crisis of unprecedented proportions. Our national security is at stake, and we must take decisive action. We need to restore border policies that prioritize American safety, hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable, and ensure that our laws are enforced to protect our communities.
