House Appropriators Focus In On Biden's Border Crisis

This Administration continues to undercut its own credibility by downplaying the disorder at the border. Just this week, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas again refused to call the situation on the southern border a "crisis," challenging the Chief of US Border Patrol in his assessment that the border is not secure.
 
The numbers tell the true story:

This week, the Committee again pressed Department of Homeland Security officials, holding budget hearings on agencies directly responsible for addressing the migrant crisis: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These hearings raised even more concerns about the widespread and devastating impact that Biden’s Border Crisis is having on communities across the country. 
 
On Tuesday, ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson testified before the Homeland Security Subcommittee. The Administration’s reckless request to shrink detention capacity amid historic migrant encounters was the focus of many Members’ questions.
 
Subcommittee Chairman Joyce acknowledged the obvious in his opening statement: “It's come as no surprise that I believe the President's Budget Request falls far short of addressing the immigration crisis facing this country.”

Reps. Dave Joyce, Michael Guest, and Michael Cloud pressed Acting Director Johnson to justify the counterproductive request to decrease detention beds. 
 
Rep. Ashley Hinson added: “taking funding away from the baseline budget and putting it into a contingency slush fund that could be used for other services is reckless when you need those funds to actually execute your mission. I see this as a budget gimmick and think that we should be prioritizing getting you those funds directly.”

Rep. Guest raised concerns about those being released into the interior of our country: “We're allowing people in the country, and we have no access to their criminal record from their country of origin…It should be disturbing to all Americans that we're allowing people in the country, and we have no idea what crimes they may have committed in their home country.”
 
Rep. Dan Newhouse pointed to the surge of deadly drugs, particularly fentanyl, caused by the Administration’s failure to secure our border. 

The Subcommittee also heard testimony from CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, getting a better sense of how this Administration has hamstrung the agency in securing the border.

Rep. Ashley Hinson emphasized her frustration with the Administration, asking why she has yet to receive a response on suspected terrorists gaining entry into our country.

Even Democrat Ranking Member Henry Cuellar expressed concern with the Department's ineffective immigration strategy: “I hate playing defense on the one-yard line called the US-Mexico border.”
 
During the hearing, Acting Commissioner Miller agreed that migrants only see the border as a “speedbump.”
 
MAIN POINT: Migrant encounters are up. Dangerous criminal arrests are up. Deadly drug seizures are up. President Biden’s open border policies are record-breaking in all the wrong ways.  

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