Facing Catastrophe on Southern Border

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, despite what the Biden administration would like the American people to believe, our Nation is facing a catastrophe on the southern border.

Last month alone, U.S. Border Protection officers encountered more than 100,000 migrants attempting to cross the border illegally. This is a 173 percent increase from last February.

Right now, the Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters that house unaccompanied migrant children are reaching capacity. Our border agents are being diverted from their posts to care for record numbers of teenagers and children who are illegally crossing our border.

This escalating crisis is rooted right here in Washington, D.C., more than 1,700 miles away from that border. As we witness unprecedented groups of migrants reaching the United States, there is no question that the President's weak border security stance has heightened this so-called challenge.

By reversing the Trump administration's actions to bolster security on the southern border and halting construction of the border wall, the current administration is sending a clear message to the world that America's border, unfortunately, is wide open.

Innocent people, and cartels and human traffickers who prey upon them, pay attention to what we say here in Washington. Words have consequences. Rhetoric has ramifications.

What is happening on the southern border is both a humanitarian and security crisis. It is simply inhumane for politicians to incentivize the dangerous trek across Central America to the southern border.

Those who attempt the journey face treacherous conditions, gang violence, and unthinkable danger. As my friend, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, said at the border just yesterday, ``This is human heartbreak.''

As the situation worsens, the limited resources on the border are being pulled away from protecting the American people. The Biden administration is prioritizing illegal immigrants over the American people. As U.S. Customs and Border Protection leadership shifts to caring for migrants, there are fewer officers focusing on apprehending threats.

This is not only a human trafficking crisis; it is also a drug trafficking crisis. The illicit drugs, including deadly methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl, that come across the porous southern border are killing Pennsylvanians in the streets of Altoona, Johnstown, Bedford, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, and Somerset, and throughout my district.

Just this weekend, Border Patrol agents apprehended two individuals attempting to smuggle nearly 8 pounds of methamphetamine across the border. By preventing these drugs from reaching American communities, we likely saved lives. What would have happened if these suspects hadn't been caught?

Clearly, we need more, and not less, security on our southern border.

As our Nation continues to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress cannot afford to stand back and allow the border crisis to get even worse. We need safer, stronger, and more secure communities in Pennsylvania and across the country.

Here is the truth: The border crisis has consequences beyond the border. Inaction is not the correct action. Border security is national security.

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