Biden Border Crisis Puts Americans in Danger
By Sen. John Thune
For more than three years, a crisis has been raging at the southern border. In total, 10 million illegal immigrants have come into the United States on President Biden’s watch. The high level of illegal immigration has undoubtedly enabled bad actors to get into the country, threatening America’s national security and public safety.
In June, eight men from Tajikistan with suspected ties to ISIS were arrested in cities across the country. Each of them had entered via the southern border without proper documentation and were released into the country with nothing more than a court date and a hope that they show up when it arrives. In another case, 400 illegal immigrants were reported to have come into the country via an ISIS-affiliated smuggling network, and 50 of these 400 are still unaccounted for. These are hardly the only dangerous individuals who have made their way into the country on President Biden’s watch.
The southern border has also been the entry point for criminals who have harmed Americans. An illegal immigrant who had successfully evaded Border Patrol has been arrested for the murder of a mother of five in Maryland. Another illegal immigrant who was released into the country on parole is charged with the murder of a nursing student in Georgia. Two illegal immigrants are charged with killing a 12-year-old girl in Texas. And, unfortunately, there are other cases like these.
The chaos at the border has created an environment that facilitates bad actors slipping into the United States undetected. We know that 1.8 million illegal immigrants have entered without being apprehended by Border Patrol, and there are undoubtedly more that we don’t know about. These “gotaways” are particularly concerning. Under the Biden administration’s lax asylum policy, individuals who show up at the border claiming asylum have frequently been released into the country with a court date as much as 10 years in the future. If turning yourself into Border Patrol is likely to result in years of essentially legal permanent residence, we can only imagine why someone would choose to avoid law enforcement to escape into the interior of the country.
Until very recently, President Biden has largely done nothing to address this crisis. But after three record-breaking years of illegal border crossings, the president seems to have finally realized his disastrous border record might be a political liability. He conceded last month that he had to do something, but his recent action is too little, too late. A tremendous amount of damage has already been done, damage that can’t be reversed even if his minimal action is successful, which remains to be seen.
This crisis was avoidable. The southern border has been overwhelmed month after month and year after year because of intentional choices President Biden made early in the first days of his presidency. The American people want a secure border. The president’s open border policies have made Americans less safe and jeopardized our national security. Unfortunately, I suspect we will be dealing with the consequences of the Biden border crisis for a long time to come.
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