Stop Illegal Immigration

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, since President Biden took office, there have been over 5.8 million illegal crossings on our southern border and 1.6 million illegal immigrants have evaded apprehension.

Instead of funding our Border Patrol agents to deal with the rise in attempted crossings, President Biden has chosen to incentivize crossings by ending President Trump's remain in Mexico policy.

At a time when the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 is overdoses, Democrats' failure to pass comprehensive border security legislation is an indictment of their failure to protect the American people. Instead of addressing the importation of fentanyl-related substances, liberals in this body have voted against legislation like the HALT Fentanyl Act, which is legislation that would permanently classify these drugs as schedule I narcotics and impose harsh penalties on the dealers who traffic these deadly poisons.

In the past year, I have spoken with too many first responders who have administered Narcan on 911 calls. I have spoken with too many county coroners conducting autopsies on young people killed far too soon by fentanyl poisonings. I have spoken with far too many families who have lost a loved one to an overdose.

It is time for the Senate to stop sitting on the sidelines while Americans suffer and die. It is time to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act. It is time to secure our border.

Our top priority must be to protect our Nation's border and put a stop to drug smuggling and illegal immigration that have made every State in our Union a border State.

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