Since Joe Biden took office and enacted his failed Far Left open borders agenda, there have been over 7.2 million illegal immigrants who have entered the United States through our Southern Border, an amount greater than the population of 36 states.
That is larger than the population of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
House Republicans have been sounding the alarm about the catastrophic effects of President Biden's open border policies since he began his term. After the President has surrendered the border to cartels and smugglers, after tens of thousands of Americans have tragically lost their lives due to fentanyl poisoning, after countless unaccompanied minors and young people have been subjected to human trafficking, and after millions of illegal aliens have been scattered by the Biden administration throughout our country—the President suddenly seems interested in trying to make a change using the legal authority that he claimed until recently didn't exist. If these reports are accurate and the President intends to take action, he can show he's serious by changing more than asylum policy. He should begin by reinstituting the 'Remain in Mexico' policy and ending his administration's abuse of the parole system and other critical reforms. We need action. We need to enforce the policies on the books. In fact, I introduced H.R.6477 to do just that, take action and reinstate this important border policy.
We have lost control of the southern border. Look at the numbers above. Since October of 2023, more Chinese nationals have crossed illegally into Border Patrol's San Diego sector in recent months than Mexican nationals. There are also reports that thousands have crossed illegally into the San Diego sector in fiscal year 2024 from "special interest" countries like Afghanistan, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Russia, etc. Their citizens are supposed to receive additional federal vetting after apprehension. We know they are not doing that.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released their FY'23 report. Per the report, 288 Chinese nationals were deported from the U.S. in fiscal year 2023, despite more than 24,000 Chinese nationals being encountered at the border during the same year. Only 834 Venezuelan nationals were deported in fiscal year 2023. Context: There were approximately 335,000 Venezuelan nationals encountered in fiscal year 2023. Just over 201,000 of them were apprehended by Border Patrol after crossing illegally.
We have no idea who is in this country. We need to secure the border immediately.
