Republican Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany will introduce a bill Thursday to force the federal government to take measures stopping illegal immigrants from leaving trash along the southern border as they cross into the U.S., according to a copy of the draft legislation first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The bill, called “The TRASHED Border Act,” would force federal land managers with the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior to create policies to reduce trash accumulation along the border. The bill would also increase penalties for illegal immigrants littering on federal border lands, according to the copy of the legislation.
Under the Biden administration, illegal immigration has surged to record levels, surpassing 2 million encounters in both fiscal years 2022 and 2023, according to federal data.
With the influx in illegal immigration, trash has piled up at the southern border. Illegal immigrants discard an estimated 6 to 8 pounds of trash crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, Tiffany’s office said in a statement, citing Bureau of Land Management data. (RELATED: Number Of Migrants That Got In After Crossing Border Illegally in Fiscal 2023 Surpasses Populations In 11 States)
“Having seen the litter of trash, clothes, and human waste on our federal borderlands firsthand, I can tell you that the environmental damage of President Biden’s open border needs critical attention,” Rep. Tiffany, who the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands, said in a statement to the DCNF. “While the Biden administration turns a blind eye to the environmental consequences of illegal immigration, the TRASHED Border Act ensures there is greater transparency and accountability for illegals who litter on our public lands.”
In Eagle Pass, Texas, recently, the DCNF observed heaps of trash around the banks of the Rio Grande that included a used condom, ripped up immigration paperwork, clothes, shoes and other personal belongings.
Jennie Taer//Daily Caller News Foundation
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) cleaned up 253 sites and collected more than 193 tons of trash, Tiffany’s office said in a statement regarding data from fiscal year 2021.
“The Biden administration has refused to take action, and now Congress must step up to prevent further environmental degradation due to Biden’s border crisis. The TRASHED Border Act will force the administration to fix the problem they created,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, who is supportive of the bill, said in a statement to the DCNF.
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