This week, I led a group of my Congressional colleagues in what is known as a Special Order - an opportunity to speak out on an issue of great importance to the American people for an hour on the House floor after votes. The topic was border security.
We are on the 28th day of a partial government shutdown over the question of whether Americans’ security is at risk because of the gaps on our southern border.
The simple answer to this question is yes: we are all at risk because of the increased flow of illegal drugs coming across the border, the trafficking of innocent women and children migrants by greedy coyotes and multinational crime cartels, and the violent crimes enacted by some unvetted immigrants entering our country illegally.
The problem is real. In 2018, Customs & Border Patrol intercepted enough cocaine to fill 141 one-ton pick-up trucks and 3.25 tons of heroin. The amount of drugs not caught is tremendous and plaguing our communities. Ninety percent of the heroin in our country today comes illegally across our border. This is contributing to the opioid crisis that is killing 130 Americans a day. This has got to STOP!
Additionally, innocent people are being killed by criminals who come across our border illegally. California Police Officer Ronil Singh went on duty on Christmas night after celebrating the holiday with his family, and he was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant at a 1 a.m. traffic stop just a few hours later. What’s especially heartbreaking is that Officer Singh was an immigrant who came here the right way - he came here legally. Legal immigration is what we should be promoting; not enabling lawbreakers to harm those who follow our laws.
Our open border not only causes criminal activity in the United States, it also exacerbates crime outside our borders when people try to migrate here.
Knowledge about our inadequate border security tempts immigrants to come here whatever way possible - which includes, for some people, sending their minor child with a stranger in hopes of them being smuggled safely into the United States.
In December 2018 alone, over 20,000 minors were smuggled into the United States, and heartbreakingly, these children are subject to all kinds of assault, dehydration, and sexual violence along the way.
Additionally, according to Doctors Without Borders, over 30% of women who make the trek to our southern border are sexually assaulted on their journey. If we had a secure border, migrants - including innocent women and children - would not be incentivized to come here illegally on such a risk-laden and dangerous journey.
At this point, the President and Democrat leaders in Congress have not come to an agreement to reopen the government while providing border security, even though Senate Democrats (including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer) supported a bill in 2006 to build 700 miles of fencing with $40 billion.
In comparison, President Trump is only asking for $5.7 billion, the amount the experts on the border - our Customs & Border Patrol officials - have said is needed this year.
I am committed to working to find a solution to reopen our government, while also securing our border to stop the flow of illegal drugs into our communities. I think now is the time to pass comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our broken immigration laws to encourage legal immigration while also providing needed security at the border, including the building of a wall. We can do both and we should do both.
1 comment:
How much do all you republicans cheering for the wall have in your campaign coffers? Maybe you could all donate some of the money spent in Las Vegas, campaign trips, campaign literature and weekends being wooed by lobbyists to build the fricking wall. What a bunch of maroons
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