Biden’s border is an unmitigated disaster

Unfortunately, I must report to my constituents and the rest of America that the entire system dealing with illegal aliens entering, being processed, and placed throughout the United States is profoundly broken. Humans are being subject to the most brutal treatment imaginable by the cartels, and there appears to be no end in sight. The Biden administration cannot account for over 100,000 unaccompanied minors who have been dispersed throughout the country without any accountability.

Our Customs and Border Patrol agents, sheriffs, and local and state public safety officers have been set up for failure by the Biden administration’s total disregard for the rule of law, including the revocation of policies put in place by the Trump administration. Local political officials have been forced to allocate limited resources due to the increase in crime and homelessness.

I, along with 60 other House Republican Members, recently returned from the U.S.-Mexico border. This was the second trip I have taken there as a congressman, and it was by far the most disturbing. The most spectacular example of the failure of the system was when we, 60 Members of Congress, hundreds of local, state, and federal officers, and members of the military, were standing on the border and a group of illegal aliens brazenly waded through the river and climbed through the concertina wire. They had absolutely no apprehension in doing this, knowing that they will be given food, shelter, medical care, and transportation to any address in the United States that they provide to Border Patrol. 

To frame the problem, I have divided the problem set into two areas of interest from direct observation and in-person discussions with federal, state, local law enforcement officers, local and state political office holders, and private citizens: National Security and Humanitarian. Policy recommendations follow.

National Security:

Unrestricted release of aliens. Of the over 7 million illegal aliens that have entered the country under Biden’s watch, 90% or more have been released into the United States. This is more than the population of 33 states. Sixty to seventy percent of these illegal aliens are military aged males. When they are released, flown, or bused around the country they are given a notice to appear at a local ICE office. Some of these notices are not for years, de facto granting temporary residency.

Fatally flawed identification process. The vetting process is so simple to circumvent, it is a joke. When a person is detained and brought to a processing center, they are asked for identification. If they cannot produce any, they are asked additional questions and the name they give is ran through a database for a name trace and biometrics screening through a retinal scan. If they are not flagged on either, Border Patrol accepts the name, birthdate, and country of origin the illegal alien provides and then issues them a picture ID with a barcode reflecting the information. As far as the government is concerned, this is the illegal alien’s true identity.

The illegal alien then uses this as identification to travel anywhere in the country at taxpayers’ expense. The destination is either dictated by Border Patrol, or if the illegal alien provides an address, they are transported to that address. This information is then used to get an Employment Authorization Number, granting the individual the ability to work in the United States.

Humanitarian:

The problem. Biden has lost over 100,000 unaccompanied minors who crossed the border into the United States. If you recall the outrage of the left when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Trump could not locate 1,475 children, you would assume that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her far-left friends would be apoplectic over 100,000. The glaring hypocrisy of the left is startling.

The reason for the inability to locate these children is multifold including; volume of children, poor identification of children, and the lack of response from the sponsors the children are turned over to.

The process. When an unaccompanied minor under the age of 14 is brought to a processing facility, Border Patrol cannot perform biometric testing on them, having to accept the name given to them by the minor or the name and address that is often pinned to the child’s clothing. They are transferred to HHS and then to alleged family member sponsors already located in the U.S., temporary foster care homes or facilities, and other points unknown.

The broken asylum system. The New York Times reported that there has been a 63% increase in asylum claims from 2022 to 2023 to approximately 800,000. The most obvious issue is that during the intake process, illegal aliens are asked if they are afraid to return to their home country, when they answer “yes” to this leading question, Border Patrol considers this credible fear and are required to start the process to adjudicate their asylum case. This process is known amongst those crossing the border and is clearly being abused. This leads to persons who are economic immigrants clogging the system and preventing those who are truly fleeing tyranny from being processed.

Recommendations

Policy:

Remain in Mexico. The most obvious policy change that would have an immediate, positive effect on reducing illegal border crossings, is to reinstate the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. During Biden’s three years in office, there have been over 7,000,000 encounters with illegal aliens crossing the border. According to the Border Patrol agents we spoke to, reinstating ‘Remain in Mexico’ would reduce illegal crossings by 70%. That is just under 5,000,000 people. The population of my home state of Wisconsin is 5,500,000.

Financial pressure. The second recommendation is to hold Mexico financially culpable for persons transiting sovereign Mexican territory and entering the U.S. illegally. During discussions with Eagle Pass officials, we were informed that when the rail traffic that runs from Mexico to Eagle Pass was temporarily shut down between, illegal crossings went from more than 1,500 per day to less than 200. This was not due to less illegals riding the train into the U.S. but was because the lack of rail traffic was costing the Mexican government approximately $50,000,000 a day. The negative financial impact would be felt on both sides of the border, particularly in the automotive industry, but this would also be a forcing function to get the Biden administration to act.

Disposition of illegals

Empower citizens in smaller municipalities. The most contentious issue I deal with as a Member of Congress relating to resettlement of immigrants is the incredibly lacking communication to community residents from the federal and state governments. In the case currently concerning my district, both the state office of refugee resettlement and the non-governmental organization (NGO) that is responsible for the resettlement have left a significant number of local residents in the dark regarding the process of selection, vetting, housing, schooling, medical care, and cultural integration services that will be offered, who is responsible for conducting these functions and providing these services, and for what period of time. By not being transparent, the state office and NGO have caused a tremendous amount of apprehension that can only increase the likelihood of those being resettled having a negative experience.   

Many smaller communities are struggling to deal with an unprecedented influx of migrants placed in them by the federal government with minimal coordination with local community members and governments. To ensure that this does not take place in the future, any and all foreign nationals illegally entering the United States should be immediately transported to formally self-declared sanctuary cities, and only those cities.  This will ensure that the democratic process is adhered to and that all citizens of the municipalities are duly represented.

Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) reform. The process selection of the NGO that are currently the recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts that do the actual block and tackling of getting illegal immigrants to these communities needs to be an open process, subject to both congressional and public scrutiny, including financial auditing. The current system has no transparency and has the potential for massive abuse.

It is clear that the current immigration system in place is broken all the way from the initial point of entry to our nation to settling into communities around the country. It is also abundantly clear that there are very simple solutions that could be implemented today that would prevent further mass illegal immigration. If only the Biden administration had the will to do so.