South Utah News

WASHINGTON— On May 11, 2023, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) voted in favor of the Secure the Border Act. The Biden administration’s open-border policies have created an unprecedented crisis at the southern border. Fortunately, despite the administration’s decision to ignore this crisis, House Republicans have now passed a commonsense, necessary plan to secure the border.

“Joe Biden’s open-border policies have created a humanitarian and national security crisis,” said Rep. Stewart. “In the 24 months since he took office, more than 4.5 million people have crossed the border illegally and more than 175 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have tried to cross the border. Human trafficking has grown into a multi-million-dollar business for the cartels, and enough fentanyl has been seized at the border to kill every American 24 times over – and the CBP says it only catches five to ten percent of the illegal drugs that are smuggled into America.

“Still, the Biden administration maintains that the ‘border is secure.’ Fortunately, during the two years president spent ignoring this crisis and misleading the American people, House Republicans were listening to them. Now, we’ve passed what may be the strongest border security bill to come through Congress. I’m confident that it would restore law and order to our southern border, encourage legal immigration, and support our border patrol agents so they can keep us safe.”

There have been more than 4.5 million illegal border crossings under President Biden’s leadership, including more than 1.3 million who have evaded apprehension. The Secure the Border Act is a practical approach that would strengthen current law to protect unaccompanied children from human trafficking, end catch and release, end abuse of executive immigration authority, and strengthen and streamline the asylum process. This bill would also restart the construction of the border wall, increase the number of Border Patrol agents, and require transparency regarding illegal crossings from the Department of Homeland Security.

Original source can be found here.