Addressing the Border Crisis

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to shine a light on the current crisis that is plaguing our southwest border. Customs and Border Protection agents has stated that they are encountering more than 3,000 illegal immigrants per day. It has also been reported that Customs and Border Patrol encountered the highest number of illegal aliens recorded in the month of February in over 7 years, at 100,441 encounters.

The Biden executive order terminating the construction of the wall caused this crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made it worse. The Biden border crisis stands to threaten not only U.S. communities along the southern border, but also Americans throughout the interior. And as a result of the Federal Government's inaction, local border communities are stepping up to fill the void.

But, unfortunately, these localities do not have the authority to retain these illegals who plan to travel to dozens of cities throughout the country. We must do everything in our power to protect Americans from unnecessary exposure to the coronavirus.

It seriously troubles me that the Secretary of Homeland Security acknowledged just yesterday in a committee hearing that the Department not only does not know how many illegal immigrants have been released, but they are also not testing all of them for COVID- 19 before releasing them. Let that sink in.

The Department charged with protecting the homeland lacks an executable strategy to ensure that all illegal immigrants are properly screened and tested before they are released into the interior.

In order to right this wrong and stand up for the safety of all Americans, I will be introducing the COVID-19 Border Protection Act, a bill that repurposes COVID relief funds, funds from Democrats' nearly $2 trillion package slated to be sent overseas, to test immigrants who are encountered by Federal officials at the border and quarantine those who test positive. I took an oath to protect all Americans, and this bill does just that.

The crisis at the border is unacceptable and it exemplifies the threat posed by the rollback of Trump-era policies that were tough on illegal immigration.

Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to enter our country to begin with, and a wall would help do just that. But they should certainly not be allowed to enter and spread the COVID-19 virus. All Americans should be appalled with the crisis at the border.

I call on my colleagues to join me in rejecting the administration's America second policies and get tough on illegal immigration.

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