Congressman Smith Capitol Report: Passing the buck

Over the last three years, Americans have grown increasingly frustrated over the Biden administration’s disastrous open-border agenda. The American people know that President Joe Biden inherited the most secure border in American history thanks to the tough immigration policies of former President Donald Trump. They also know that Biden is directly responsible for creating the worst border crisis our nation has ever seen. That’s why it was incredibly maddening when White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently stated that it was not Biden’s job to secure our southern border. She couldn’t be more wrong. He broke our immigration system. And now he refuses to fix it.

 

There are numerous examples of Biden taking actions that have fueled the border crisis. Biden reinstated catch-and-release, one of the most damaging – and dangerous – examples of his open-border policies. On Day One of his administration, he made the reckless decision to cancel construction of Trump’s border wall. He got rid of Remain in Mexico, one of the most effective border policies put in place by the Trump administration. These are just a few examples of the reckless policy decisions Biden made – and could easily reverse – with just the stroke of a pen. What’s worse, he’s still taking actions that are throwing more fuel on the fire raging at our border.

 

In May, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee released documents showing the Biden administration secretly flew over 400,000 illegal immigrants into cities across the country last year. Many of these cities are already overwhelmed with the massive influx of illegal immigrants, whether it’s the lack of housing or added stress on schools and hospitals. With a cost of $1,156 per taxpayer every year, the burden of illegal immigration on U.S. taxpayers is jarring.

 

There is no question that the Left’s open-border agenda is a national security issue. Under Biden, more than 350 suspected terrorists have been caught trying to cross the southern border. According to a recent news report, a suspected member of a “virulently anti-Western” terror group was released into the U.S. by federal authorities after being caught crossing the US-Mexico border. He roamed freely in the U.S. for about a year until he was once again arrested and – once again – released from custody. While I’m glad the suspected terrorist was eventually arrested again, he never should have been able to enter the country in the first place.

 

But it’s not just suspected terrorists who are taking advantage of the Left’s open-border agenda. Over the last several months, we’ve seen a massive influx of illegal immigrants from China, one of our top adversaries. Since October, 24,376 Chinese nationals have been encountered at the southwest border. And encounters of Chinese nationals in March 2024 increased a whopping 8,500% compared to March 2021. There is nothing normal about the record-smashing numbers we’re seeing. It’s no secret that the Chinese Communist Party is stepping up its espionage efforts – just like we saw with the spy balloon incident. In addition to the national security threat posed by the unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants from China, there’s also concerns that these individuals could be smuggling deadly drugs because the communist nation is a major exporter of precursors the Mexican cartels use to create the fentanyl that’s flooding into our communities.

 

Let’s be clear: the executive branch is responsible for border security. Unfortunately, we have a Commander in Chief who thinks that it isn’t his job to secure the border. It just gives me another reason to believe that he is the worst president in American history. In Washington, I will continue fighting tooth and nail against his radical effort to turn America into a nation without borders.