At Arizona border, Judiciary Committee to hear from officials about massive migrant surge, strain on hospitals
The committee is holding an in-person hearing in Yuma
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee is holding an in-person hearing at the southern border in Yuma, Arizona on Thursday -- and will hear of the massive migrant surge seen under the Biden administration and of the strain it has placed on authorities and hospitals in the area.
Republicans have scheduled the hearing on the ‘Biden Border Crisis" as the latest in a number of hearings across multiple committees on the ongoing crisis at the border which has seen record numbers of migrants flood to the border during the Biden administration.
Democrats will not be in attendance, having dismissed the hearing as a "stunt" and "political grandstanding" while claiming there was no consultation from Republicans with them -- a claim that Republicans have denied.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The hearing will feature three witnesses: Jonathan Lines, a county supervisor in Yuma County; Sheriff Leon Wilmot; and Dr. Robert Trenschel, president and CEO of Yuma Regional Medical Center.
HOUSE DEMS PLEDGE BOYCOTT OF HOUSE JUDICIARY BORDER CRISIS HEARING IN ARIZONA
Immigrants walk along the U.S.-Mexico border barrier on their way to await processing by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing from Mexico on December 30, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona. ((Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))
In witness statements, obtained by Fox News Digital, the three officials will describe a hellish few years amid a record-breaking migrant crisis which saw more than 1.7 million encounters in FY 2021, over 2.3 million in FY 2022, and an FY 2023 on track to exceed that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Since President Biden took office, we saw a huge surge--a record number of people crossing the border illegally from 106 different countries, 17 of those countries are what is designated ‘special interest’ because of the negative relationships with the United States and it has steadily continued these many months," Lines says in his testimony. "Along with the illegal entry into the US across an open border the increase in the trafficking of narcotics. Both human trafficking and drug trafficking remain at an all-time high, significantly greater than under any other administration in our history."
Lines stresses that the issue is not just something that affects Yuma, but "illegal entry, human trafficking and narcotics, especially fentanyl and methamphetamine, has now compounded and pervaded across the States to affect every community across our nation, now making them too into border communities."
Trenschel, who has been in his role leading the medical center for eight years, testifies how many migrants come in very sick and have long-term complications for chronic diseases, as well as language and cultural concerns.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Migrants often require three times the amount of human resources to resolve their cases and provide them with a safe discharge as defined by [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]. That effort includes assistance locating their families, making sure they have a safe place to go when they are discharged, arranging and sometimes purchasing durable medical equipment when needed," he says.
Trenschel testifies that the center has delivered over $26 million in uncompensated care to migrants in a 12-month period -- enough to support the salary and benefits of 212 bedside nurses.
"It is an unsustainable model to have a hospital like ours bear the entire burden of paying for migrant health care. No business or service can survive on-going large-scale expense without any offsetting revenue," he says.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The City of Yuma has 100,000 people and we’ve had over 300,000 people cross the border here. That’s three times the population of Yuma coming across the border. We are the only hospital within a 3-hour radius – which means they come here," he says.
Sheriff Wilmot, meanwhile, testifies how Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal migrants in the area have gone up from 40 a day to over 1,000 a day in the space of two years, and how the county has had to shell out tens of thousands of dollars to lease porta johns to stop migrants defecating in crops.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}His county has spent $323,000 in FY 2022 on booking costs for illegal immigrants who have committed state crimes, including sexual exploitation of minors, narcotics charges, assaults, kidnapping, burglary, and theft cases. He also outlines other risks coming across the border including seizures of fentanyl and other drugs, as well as financial crimes being coordinated by cartels across the border.
"Our southern border, against all public comfort statements out of Washington D.C., is in the worst shape I have ever seen in my career," he says in his testimony. "When one looks at Public Safety, National Security, and Humanitarian, our southern border can only be described as the largest crime scene in the country."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico, with the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in the background, on August 6, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona. ((Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))
The sheriff also has a message for lawmakers in D.C.
"One would hope the priority of securing our border doesn’t become just about a price tag and/or political posturing, but rather the legal and moral requirement to safeguard all of America, which so many heroic Americans have already paid the ultimate price for," he says. "Today’s opportunity to address this committee in a border community outside of the Washington D.C. environment instills fresh hope that our voice does matter and on behalf of the citizens of Yuma County, Arizona and beyond, we hope that you will carry out your Constitutional mandate to bring positive change to an overdue vulnerable situation."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The hearing, one of a number being held in-person at the border, comes after the Biden administration announced a rule this week that would bar some migrants from claiming asylum if they have crossed the border illegally and also passed through another country without claiming asylum there. That has met with consternation from some Democrats and immigrant activists.
Republicans have hammered the administration for not doing enough to secure the border, and for reversing policies from the Trump-era they say worked. The administration has pushed back, pointing to short-term numbers they say show that recent border measures are having an effect.
Meanwhile, both Democrats and the administration have called on Republicans to pass a comprehensive immigration reform unveiled on Day One -- but that has proved to be a non-starter with Republicans due to the inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country.