Crisis At the Border

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUTHERFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Arizona for yielding.

As very well stated, Mr. Speaker, a little over 2\1/2\ years ago, the Republicans in this body were talking about a crisis at the southern border. The illegal immigrants that were pouring into this country had created a crisis.

Finally now, 3 years later almost, the Democrats across the aisle finally want to admit that there is a crisis, but they blame it on funding. We need more funding.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I am here to tell you, it is not a funding issue, it is a policy issue. We need to change our policy.

In May, House Republicans passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act. In 2023, we passed that bill. This robust border bill will require the Biden administration to complete the Trump-era border wall, increase the number of Border Patrol agents, reinstate the remain in Mexico policy, and remove all the incentives that are encouraging people to cross our border illegally.

Senator Schumer must bring H.R. 2 to the Senate floor for a vote. We need them to do their job over in the Senate. We need relief from this crisis.

Mr. Speaker, for the last 7\1/2\ months, that bill has been sitting, languishing in the Senate, with Democrats refusing to even negotiate the issues.

It is very clear now, 7 months after House Republicans passed that bill, that now the Democrats own the border crisis and the Democrats own the national disasters that will flow from this crisis.

In 7 months' time, over 1 million illegal immigrants have been encountered at our southern border. Make no mistake, the United States has been and will continue to be a nation of immigrants that welcomes people from around this world who love this land.

I have seen firsthand the death, destruction, disorder, and diseases that have been brought into our communities by the unvetted migration coming over our porous southern border.

Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, a 24-year-old man, who HHS left unidentified, posed as a minor, was flown to my district, where he killed one of my constituents.

The Democrats own that. He was not the first criminal to enter as a criminal, and he won't be the last.

Even the leaders in New York, California, and other blue States are calling out for support as they deal with the influx of migrants into their cities. The Democrats own that.

Among the 2.4 million people that CBP encountered in FY 2023, 15,000 of them had criminal records, and 169 of them were on the terrorist watch list. Again, these are just the ones that we know about. The Democrats own that.

This humanitarian national crisis has stretched our immigration system to a breaking point. A nation without borders is not a nation.

Every day that President Biden and Senator Schumer ignore this crisis, our country becomes less safe. While the Senate has refused to negotiate and accept the major tenets of H.R. 2, CBP has intercepted 8,400 pounds of fentanyl at the southwest border.

The fentanyl pouring in over this border is killing our neighbors, friends, and families at an alarming rate. In just 2022, over 70,000 people died of fentanyl poisoning. The Democrats own that, too.

If we can't prove who is coming across the border, the default policy, according to Secretary Mayorkas, is to let them in. Don't know who they are, but come on in. That has to stop. The Democrats own that, too.

I implore Senator Schumer to bring H.R. 2 to the floor for a vote. The Democrats own this border crisis and the death and destruction it has and will cause in our country. The Democrats own that, too.

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