BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent the following statement on the border crisis that has been exacerbated by the Biden-Harris Administration’s failed policies:
“It’s well known and documented that America’s illegal immigration and border crisis was put into overdrive once President Biden and Vice President Harris took office. They reversed the work that President Trump did to get things under control and encouraged everyone to come on over, including terrorists and other criminals. In 2022, I led a group of Republican senators in putting out a report filled with solutions to the worsening border crisis. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, our advice was ignored.
“President Biden specifically tasked Vice President Harris to secure the border early on in his term, and the results speak for themselves. Vice President Harris failed in her job. Americans who are concerned about the flow of illegal immigrants into our country through open borders should rest assured that Republicans have solutions.”
Problems the Biden-Harris Administration exacerbated:
- The Biden-Harris Administration reversed important Trump-era reforms, including Title 42, Migrant Protection Protocols with Mexico, and Asylum Cooperative Agreements with the countries of northern Central America, that effectively addressed illegal migration, and instead reinstated failed Obama-era policies.
- Biden-Harris policy and foreign assistance efforts continue to undermine U.S. efforts to build effective law enforcement and asylum processing mechanisms across Mexico and Central America. This includes the administration’s expansion of prosecutorial discretion, which has resulted in less enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
- Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) benefit from the illegal migration crisis by profiting off the smuggling and trafficking of migrants or victimizing people along the dangerous journey.
- The Biden-Harris Administration has not held accountable other governments that fail to enforce their obligations that would make migration more orderly, safe, and controlled.
Republican solutions to the Biden-Harris border crisis:
- Tighten ICE immigration enforcement.
- Fully implement the Migration Protection Protocols with Mexico and Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and tie U.S. foreign aid to measurable progress in border security and asylum processing in the region.
- Use extradition treaties with countries in the region to prosecute TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking.
- Tighten enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and prioritize U.S. technical assistance to improve asylum processing capacity in the region.
Risch’s border report, Biden’s Border Crisis: Examining Policies that Encourage Illegal Migration, can be found here.
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