Christmas is nearing in Washington D.C. – made apparent by the massive wreaths overhanging Union Station, the tree carefully placed in front of the capitol, and lawmakers hurrying to strike deals before the end of the year. Specifically, the Senate is debating whether to hand President Joe Biden’s open-border administration billions of more dollars to continue its dangerous immigration agenda.
Over 2,000 miles away, in Lukeville, Ariz., the scene is dramatically different. Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reduced their processing of vehicles at ports of entry to deal with a surge of illegal aliens. Days later, the port of entry was shut down to process illegal immigrants into the country. Even Governor Katie Hobbs criticized the move, saying, "This is a bad decision that impacts our border security. It hurts our economy because it’s putting a damper on trade and tourism."
Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, which includes Lukeville, announced it was pausing social media activity because it needed all personnel available to keep up with the surge. The Tucson sector – just one segment of America’s southwest border – saw over 15,000 migrants in a week.
LAWMAKERS UNLIKELY TO ADVANCE BORDER SECURITY, UKRAINE FUNDING LEGISLATION BEFORE CHRISTMAS
The news from Arizona makes it clear that Biden’s border crisis is out of control. And the administration’s unwillingness to change course after nearly three years shows us the crisis is intentional. Senate leadership just failed to get enough votes for its first White House supplemental bill attempt to proceed because the $10.7 billion allocated for its brand of "border security" did not include the real border security policy changes needed and found in H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act.
A huge crowd of immigrants is processed in Eagle Pass, Texas, ec. 12, 2023. (Fox News)
Arizonans know that another dollar given to this administration without policy change accelerates more border insecurity. As Senate Democrats attempt to give Biden billions of taxpayer dollars to keep the border open, Americans ought to remember conservatives in the House presented a real solution to the crisis at the southern border seven months ago.
In May, the House of Representatives passed the Secure the Border Act. If signed into law, this legislation would result in true border security by resuming construction of the border wall, investing in high-tech surveillance systems along the border, and closing the asylum fraud, strengthening immigration parole, and ending unaccompanied alien children loopholes the administration uses to turn the border into a welcome center for unknown, unvetted individuals from across the world.
H.R. 2 almost passed the Senate in June, receiving votes from 46 Republicans – two were absent and one voted against it.
To be clear – H.R. 2 is a baseline, not the ceiling. It is only the beginning of what is needed to end Biden’s border crisis and ensure that the federal government is working to keep Americans safe by protecting the homeland rather than spending Americans’ money to usher in as many illegal aliens as possible.
This administration and their Democrat allies in Washington, D.C. have no interest in fixing the mess they created and seek simply to dump more money into their America last agenda.
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As Senate Democrats attempt to do so, conservatives ought to remember that standing up for real solutions represents an opportunity to begin to fix Biden’s broken border, and failure to do so represents complicity in the administration’s destructive policies.
Biden’s border policies are empowering drug cartels to turn human smuggling into a multi-billion dollar industry. Those policies allow fentanyl to pour into our country, leading to the No. 1 cause of death among young Americans. Those policies leave Americans more vulnerable to terrorist attacks and infiltration from foreign enemies, including the Chinese Communist Party.
Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, which includes Lukeville, announced it was pausing social media activity because it needed all personnel available to keep up with the surge. The Tucson sector – just one segment of America’s southwest border – saw over 15,000 migrants in a week.
In D.C., the left continues to downplay the disaster they created. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer referred to the border crisis as a "decades old, hyper-partisan issue." The left is content to gaslight the American people, claiming that sending a few more billions of dollars to the administration, which created this crisis, is "border security" and if you oppose giving the administration more money, you are against securing the border.
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But – looking at the scenes in Lukeville and elsewhere along the border – Arizonans, and all Americans, know better.
Conservatives cannot squander an opportunity to truly secure the border and should not settle for a few bones the left agrees to throw their way. This is a crisis created by the Biden administration, and one we can end. The policy changes in H.R. 2 are the only path to resolution. The conservative movement must take action to force the government to do its job: protect the American people and secure the homeland.
Congressman Eli Crane represents Arizona's 2nd congressional district.