On Monday, Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21), joined by five of his House colleagues, publicly called on Senate Republicans to reject the amnesty immigration deal currently being discussed by some members of the chamber.
“It would be a grave mistake to allow years of the Left’s vociferous calls for amnesty to distract us from our goal of securing the border,” the Members wrote. “We must not confuse border security for immigration. We must stand firm and remain focused on fixing what the American people sent us to Washington to fix. Blank checks for false security measures and amnesty of any kind while our country endures this historical border crisis must be fiercely resisted.”
They reminded Senate Republicans that sending the Biden Administration more money for processing migrants will do nothing to stop them from continuing to abuse our border security laws by releasing millions of illegal migrants into the interior United States.
The Members listed some of the policy changes – such as those in the Texas Delegation’s new border security framework – that would actually secure the border. These include forcing the Biden Administration to fully detain or turn away illegal migrants, and requiring DHS to remove them from the interior.
“There will never be a magic level of spending, a magic number of beds, a magic number of agents and officers, or a magic number of facilities to secure our border. Policy changes that force the administration to enforce the law at the border and in the interior is the only way to fully secure the border,” the Members concluded. “We must demand these changes in the 118th congress.”
Full text of the letter can be found here and below.
Dear Senate Republican Colleagues,
All of us share a sense of urgency for action to secure our southern border and support engagement by Congress to do so given the malfeasance of the Biden administration. But we write to warn that any such conversation must begin and end with complete border security – ending the flow across the border by forcing the administration to “detain or turn away” rather than “encounter and release.”
For nearly two years, the border crisis has caused both Americans and migrants alike to be hurt, killed, and abused while President Biden and his Secretary of Homeland Security deem it relatively “unimportant” and publicly lie about border agents. In January 2021, the Biden administration had every tool, resource, and policy needed to manage security at our southern border. But the administration has since stripped our border security bare while purposefully abusing our laws and mass releasing illegal migrants, creating a dangerous – and lethal – situation for both migrants and Americans. This is exemplified by the over 72,000 dead Americans from fentanyl poisonings and the estimated 900 migrants who have died trying to cross the border in FY22.
More than 4 million illegal migrants have been encountered at our southern border since President Biden took office. The Biden administration has released between 1-2 million of these illegal migrants into the interior. They have done so by abusing laws such as asylum and parole – designed to help in narrow, specific situations – to invite a purposeful flood at the border, which keeps Customs and Border Protection (CBP) off the line and unable to stop the estimated 1 million known “got-aways” and thousands of pounds of fentanyl. And now, as courts and the administration try to end the availability of Title 42, the floodgates stand to open further.
Of course, we know precisely how to solve this problem. We can secure our border by forcing the administration to use its power to turn away and/or fully detain illegal migrants at our southern border. We can build infrastructure that cannot be disregarded by a transitioning administration. We can require DHS to remove illegal migrants from the interior. We can target and root out cartels if we stay focused on securing the border. And we can work with Mexico to do these things. In fact, the Texas delegation – which knows the border intimately – came together last week as a group and introduced exactly this plan, and many of our fellow border state colleagues have bills that will accomplish these goals as well.
Yet, news accounts – and statements by certain Senators – indicate there are Senate discussions about a “framework” that will not do these things, and will instead provide, effectively, more funding for processing and a pathway to citizenship for millions of people who broke our laws. Doing so will only attract more flow, not less – risking more deaths, more sex trafficking, more empowerment of cartels, more fentanyl poisonings, and more destruction of American life and property. It defies logic to pursue such a path if the goal is securing our border and preventing more illegal immigration.
To couple amnesty with policies disguised as border security that will only provide for processing more migrants is undeniably foolish. Worse, current discussions of providing a mere extension of Title 42 authority – a limited tool based on halting communicable disease, is in jeopardy in the courts, and which the Biden Administration chooses not to enforce fully anyway – along with funding for more processing centers, and more personnel will simply accelerate this crisis. To discuss a permanent amnesty for temporary band aids is a twin catastrophe. The worst thing we could do is attract more people for the cartels to prey upon.
Our border patrol agents undoubtedly need assistance at our border, but without crucial policy changes, every dollar, every additional facility, every additional judge, and every additional officer and agent Congress provides Biden’s DHS with will be used to process and release illegal migrants into our interior more efficiently and expeditiously. There will never be a magic level of spending, a magic number of beds, a magic number of agents and officers, or a magic number of facilities to secure our border. Policy changes that force the administration to enforce the law at the border and in the interior is the only way to fully secure the border. We must demand these changes in the 118th congress.
It would be a grave mistake to allow years of the Left’s vociferous calls for amnesty to distract us from our goal of securing the border. We must not confuse border security for immigration. We must stand firm and remain focused on fixing what the American people sent us to Washington to fix. Blank checks for false security measures and amnesty of any kind while our country endures this historical border crisis must be fiercely resisted.
Sincerely,
Chip Roy
Member of Congress
Jodey Arrington
Member of Congress
Brian Babin
Member of Congress
Tom McClintock
Member of Congress
Andy Biggs
Member of Congress
Yvette Herrell
Member of Congress
