Republicans say they want to secure the border. Then why are they blocking this bill?

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorx has repeatedly told Congress that “the border is secure,” and the White House is insisting that’s true. However, the facts on the ground suggest otherwise.

President Biden’s refusal to take direct and simple steps to curb illegal immigration is difficult for many Americans to accept, and the reality of the unprecedented and ongoing border crisis is painfully clear. About 2.4 million illegal immigrants were apprehended at the US border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022. This is a historic high that more than doubles the previous record number from 2021.

Apologists for the Biden administration have argued that the unprecedented number of “encounters” at the border, as they call them, signal a tougher approach to illegal immigration with compassion for asylum seekers.

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“The system is broken,” they tell Americans, because of the actions taken by the previous administration. But the policies implemented by President Trump proved to be very effective in curbing illegal immigration. President Biden rolled back most of these policies as soon as he took office while implementing others that have fueled the massive waves of illegal immigration we are currently seeing.

If the Biden administration was detaining those illegally crossing the border or returning to their home countries, or awaiting immigration hearings required under current law, there would be far less outrage over the situation. Instead, the administration has released more than a million illegal immigrants into the United States knowing that they are largely economic immigrants, not legitimate asylum seekers.

Then there’s the issue of so-called “got-aways,” who take advantage of Border Patrol agents overwhelmed with processing millions of other illegal entrants. In fiscal year 2022 alone, the Border Patrol was able to reliably estimate that 600,000 people evaded apprehension and successfully made it into the United States illegally. We do not know who these people are, or where they are now, or what they are doing.

The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives is promising to address the border crisis with oversight and legislative reform. A serious step toward that end is the Border Safety and Security Act (HR 29) recently passed by Rep. Introduced by Chip Roy, R-Texas.

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The bill creates a non-pandemic-related authority for DHS to remove illegal aliens at the border. DHS would have the option of either detaining asylum seekers pending their hearings, sending them back to the country from which they entered to await their hearings — as was done under the REMAIN program in Mexico. — or they were deported back to their home countries.

House leadership should move quickly to pass Roy’s bill. The longer they wait, the worse the border crisis will become as the Biden administration becomes more emboldened to violate the letter and intent of existing immigration laws by asserting its discretion to admit illegal immigrants — or abuse parole. To disguise them as legal. Authority — is unlimited.

A handful of House Republicans stand in the way of the bill’s passage, arguing that it would completely bar foreign nationals from making asylum claims.

This is completely false. It would simply require DHS to follow existing law and detain asylum seekers until they have a hearing with an immigration judge.

Currently, the Biden administration is using the asylum system to release hundreds of thousands of individuals into the United States, in many cases giving them the right to work, who make false or fraudulent asylum claims.

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If Roy’s bill clears the House, it would put pressure on the Democratic-controlled Senate to take it up. Last year, nine senators in the Democrat caucus voted to expand the use of Title 42, a measure implemented by the Trump administration that enabled Customs and Border Protection to quickly remove illegal border crossers. .

As Secretary Mayor Kass becomes increasingly opposed to Congress and, with voters already overwhelmingly supporting Republicans on immigration, looking toward the 2024 election, should vulnerable Democrats reject a common approach to curbing the border crisis? will

Too much damage has already been done and Roy’s bill will stop the bleeding at the border, but there are other measures that must be put in place. Congress should prohibit immigrants who have passed through safe third countries from claiming asylum in the United States.

No doubt many who arrive at our southern border are seeking a better life, and many are hoping to escape poverty or other dire conditions – but these are not legal conditions for asylum.

Congress must respect and reiterate the original intent of the asylum system to prevent future abuse by the executive branch.

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There is no compelling reason for members of Congress who say they want to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S. to oppose Roy’s border bill. They should promote and support it enthusiastically.

The Biden administration will not secure the border on its own initiative, no matter the cost to the American people. Congress must act now.