Crisis At the Southern Border
Floor Speech
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, this past Friday, Biden's CDC, formally known as the Centers for Disease Control, but often referred to now as the center for Democrat control, announced that it would be ending title 42.
At a time when liberal mayors across our country are extending mask mandates on our children in schools, and the American public is still being forced to mask-up on airplanes, the Biden regime has decided that protecting the American people from diseases, including but not limited to COVID, is not a priority if it comes at the expense of their amnesty and open borders agenda.
Now, it is no coincidence that the Biden regime has decided to drop title 42, a policy that has been used to prevent communicable diseases from spreading into the homeland via illegal aliens entering our southern border.
In fact, more than 2 million illegal aliens have been apprehended at our southern border since Joe Biden took office, and Border Patrol agents estimate another 70 percent of these illegal immigrants have not been apprehended. They call them got-aways. So, in fact, that means nearly 3.5 million illegal aliens have come across our border on Biden's watch.
Now, Republicans and Democrats from both the House and Senate have condemned canceling title 42. Some have called it dangerous, and others have called it frightening. I call it an attack on the safety and security of the American people.
It has been reported that by the time the mid-terms roll around in November of 2022, nearly 7 million illegal aliens will have crossed the southern border this year. That is larger than the populations of Denver, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle, Miami, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Portland, Tampa, and Detroit combined. Can you imagine?
We have a product here that is working. We have a policy that is working to deter some people away from the border, but we are going to take whatever sliver we have that is keeping people out of our country illegally and do away with it.
Maybe it is to overrun our system, maybe it is to create chaos; 8 to 10 years of backlogs, so then the American people have to accept amnesty. I am not sure exactly what the plan is, but it certainly is intentional, and that is what members of the House Freedom Caucus are here to discuss tonight.
I have with me members from the House Freedom Caucus who are going to address what has been going on at the southern border. We have been to the southern border multiple times to see firsthand what is happening-- the invasion that is taking place in our country--unlike the border czar, who has failed to visit the most dangerous parts of our southern border. I think she made a trip to El Paso. And then, of course, the Commander in Chief, who is in command of nothing, he hasn't been there at all.
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Biggs, do you believe that the cartels have been emboldened during Biden's first year as President of the United States?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. What about these illegal aliens who are coming through with the help of the cartel, what do they owe the cartel for getting into the United States?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Biggs, you also chair the Border Security Caucus, and you recently brought in Secretary Mayorkas. Thank you for bringing him here to the Hill so we could ask some questions.
Now, he was talking about title 42 being a CDC issue, and that is not really his issue to enforce. That is not his policy to enforce. What is a policy that he could enforce that would effectively secure our border?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Thank you. Now, one final question for you here. You are a businessman. We may have 7 million undocumented workers in our country by November. What does that mean for our economy?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. We have more Members joining us here from the House Freedom Caucus to talk about title 42. Thank you so much, Congressman Biggs, for your insight on this. I know that you work really hard in studying what is going on at the southern border.
I have the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman) here now. Do you believe that this regime is responsible for signaling to poor and desperate people that now is the time to take this dangerous journey, to break our laws, to come into our country, and live under the freedoms and protections our country provides but not as a citizen?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, absolutely not. The city of Rifle just hit 10,000 for our population. I mean, 18,000 people a day, that right there exceeds the little city of Rifle, Colorado.
But this is something that we absolutely cannot endure, so I am glad that we have this time tonight to discuss this.
Representative Good, you have been to the southern border. You have talked to Border Patrol agents. Can you tell me what you have seen, what you have heard from Border Patrol agents?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I agree that that absolutely needs to be brought up in the next Congress.
Now, these appointed Secretaries, they really have turned our Border Patrol agents into travel agents. They are being shipped all throughout our country, these illegal immigrants, and every State is now a border State.
Congressman Good is from Virginia. We have Congressman Ralph Norman here from South Carolina. I am from Colorado. But someone who has a front seat view here, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), this has been a really hot topic for him, and rightfully so.
Republicans and Democrats from both Houses of Congress have said that they don't support ending title 42, yet no legislation or action has been taken to reinstate it. What are your thoughts on that?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, we talk about this issue regularly in our meetings with the House Freedom Caucus, and one question that comes up regularly is, where is Kamala Harris? Where is the border czar in this? Are there any plans for her to visit the southern border?
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, we are wrapping up here. We have 30 seconds.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the chairman for his final thoughts.
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues from the House Freedom Caucus for joining me here on the House floor tonight to discuss this issue.
I would encourage all Members of Congress--both bodies, the House and Senate--to talk to a Border Patrol agent. Ask them about the policies that they need to secure our southern border. I guarantee you, they won't be telling you they need funding or personnel or even infrastructure. They just need the policy to do their jobs so they can go home feeling like they have accomplished something and have protected American citizens.
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