gazette.com —
House Republicans turned up the heat on the Biden administration’s border response as a pandemic rule staunching the flow of migrants is set to expire in several weeks.
Members of the House Republican conference were briefed by border patrol agents Friday about what they said was a dire situation that will only get worse at the border and in the interior after Title 42 expires on May 23. The rule allows agents to turn away immigrants to avoid overcrowding and spread of disease at border facilities.
BORDER STATE DEMOCRATS ‘FRIGHTENED’ BY BIDEN’S ELECTION YEAR TITLE 42 CALL
“There is no longer a few border cities, every city in America is now a border city,” Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said at a press conference following the briefing.
Currently, about 8,000 people try to cross the southern border illegally daily, already above the operational capacity of 5,000, said Rep. John Katko of New York. With cartels charging $4,000 a head for passage, they make about $1 billion every month which they invest in manufacturing fentanyl that they then sell in the US. After Title 42 goes away, that number will increase to 18,000, and issues stemming from unchecked immigration will increase at the same rate, Katko continued.
“We have a very good chance because of what’s going on with this president’s policies of having a destabilized nation on our border,” Katko said. “This is a national security issue that’s going to get worse as time goes on this summer.”
Members also touched on the low morale among border agents, as well as the fentanyl smuggling and sex trafficking that takes place due to lack of enforcement on the border.
Debbie Lesko of Arizona accused the Biden administration of wanting a “border totally to anybody and everybody from any country, all over the world: terrorists, rapists, criminals.”
Arizona, Missouri, and Louisiana have sued the administration to prevent it from rolling back Title 42, saying it will roll back “the only safety valve preventing this Administration’s disastrous border policies from devolving into an unmitigated chaos and catastrophe,” according to the complaint.
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