The crisis at our Southern Border is enormous, unprecedented, and is putting Americans at risk. According to United States Customs and Border Protection, more than 1 million migrant encounters have been recorded at the border since October 1, 2024—a mark reached faster than any previous fiscal year on record. To this point in Fiscal Year 2024, 50 individuals whose names appear in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Database have been stopped trying to enter the United States illegally. This is greater than the number of terrorist watchlist encounters at the border in FY17-FY22 combined.
The policies of the Biden administration have not lessened this crisis; they have worsened it. For the American public, for law enforcement agents putting their lives on the line daily, and for victims of human trafficking and unaccompanied children, this is unacceptable.
On his first day in office, President Biden ordered an end to the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required asylum claimants to remain on the Mexico side of the border while their case was adjudicated and successfully reduced the incentive to attempt illegal crossings.
