The Biden Administration and their Democrat enablers are setting shocking new records on immigration, but not in a good way. Since taking office, the Biden Administration has allowed over 6.2 million illegal immigrants to enter our country, equating to over 180,000 illegal immigrants every month for the past three years, and equal to thirteen times the population of my state of Wyoming. And that doesn’t count the “gotaways.”
To make matters worse, the Biden administration has perpetuated the myth that these illegal immigrants are safe, law-abiding human beings whose only wish is to immediately acclimate to our culture and begin contributing to the U.S. Sadly, when faced with the sheer number of illegal immigrants entering, this could not be further from the truth. Many of these illegal immigrants are not safe, or law-abiding, and many of them are not coming for productive or peaceful reasons.
Significantly, the U.S. immigration crisis and the drug crisis are clearly linked. In 2023, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency seized over 27,000 pounds of fentanyl, the leading ingredient used in drugs associated with the opioid epidemic. The amount of fentanyl seized in 2023 so far has been a 464% increase over that seized in 2020. Clearly, this issue is growing by the day, both in scope and risk, and we are all suffering as a result. American citizens, including many of our children, are dying due to the cruel border policies of Joe Biden.
There are 169 people who have been stopped on the Southern Border who are on the terrorist watchlist, that total being more than the entire number encountered during the entire 2017-2022 period. Compounded with the federal warning that members of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah may attempt to cross our border, it is easy to see just how much of a national security crisis this issue has become. We see the world burning around us, and the weak leadership displayed by this White House does not inspire any confidence that we are safe from terrorist attacks here at home.
The breakdown of our border security and spike in the number of illegal drugs being transported throughout our country are at unsustainable and unacceptable levels. Allowing potentially dangerous individuals to randomly and freely move about from state to state and community to community risks our national and domestic security in multiple ways.
Biden and his Administration are to blame for this crisis. His open-border policies reversed effective measures that were enacted under Former President Trump. In his first 100 days in office, Biden took 94 executive actions on immigration, including halting the construction of the border wall. Not only has Biden ended the “Remain in Mexico” program, but he announced on May 10, 2023, that his Administration would allow for the release of some immigrants into the U.S. with no way to track them. This “some,” however, has been 40 percent of the total amount of “catch-and-release” migrants.
Biden has visited the vicinity of the Southern Border exactly one time since elected, a trip that was widely panned as nothing more than a photo-op. His Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, continues to lie to the American public, claiming that the border is secure when we are reminded daily that it just isn’t so. Biden, his Administration and Democrats in general, have refused to acknowledge the seriousness of this crisis, obviously believing that their long-term electoral opportunities lie with illegal aliens rather than current citizens, may the consequences be damned.
Unlike the Democrats, however, House Republicans understand that the immigration crisis, drug crisis and border security in general are matters of national security. Unlike the Democrats, House Republicans want to protect American citizens from those who wish to harm them and their families, while adopting policies to prevent the consequences of an unlimited and unchecked invasion of our country. This is why we have passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, the strongest border security package in American history. Now, if only Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats would get serious and pass it as well.
Not only does this act force the Biden Administration to restart construction of the border wall, but it also deploys technology to the Southern and Northern Borders, increases the number of Border Patrol agents and provides them bonus pay, ends the catch and release of illegal immigrants and strengthens and streamlines the asylum process.
It’s time Joe Biden, his bureaucrats at the Department of Homeland Security and Democrats in Congress acknowledge the indisputable fact that this is a crisis and a threat to U.S. national security and domestic tranquility. We, as a nation, need to take proactive measures to secure the safety of U.S. citizens. It is imperative that our political leaders unite around the issue and enact and support policies that put American citizens first.
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman is serving her first term as Wyoming’s at-large Member in the U.S. House of Representatives. She serves on the House Committee on the Judiciary, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Committee on Natural Resources.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.