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A Town Hall Discussion About Border Security
Last night, I hosted a town hall on border security in Kenosha. I was joined on stage by a highly informative panel, including U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott (retired), Kenosha County Executive Samantha Kerkman, Kenosha County Sheriff Dave Zoerner, and Kenosha Police Detective Pablo Torres.
Each of the panelists shared their expertise on how the unsecure border is impacting our country and creating challenges here in Wisconsin. In case you weren’t able to make it, keep reading to learn more about what we discussed at the event.
You can watch the full event by clicking here.
How Does Border Security Impact Wisconsin?
A number of migrants coming across the open border are moving to Wisconsin. The city of Whitewater is witnessing a dramatic increase in migrants flowing into the community. Last summer, I met with the Whitewater city leaders who detailed to me the ongoing challenges in their community. They highlighted a rapid influx of individuals, many of whom require social services. At our town hall, Chief Rodney Scott outlined the challenges this influx raises for our border patrol agents as well as highlighting the human trafficking operations that Mexican cartels are leading.
The Gulf Cartel is one of Mexico’s largest cartels. The cartel frequently makes national headlines for their criminal activity. According to Walworth County Undersheriff Tom Hausner, Walworth County has documented nearly $250 million dollars in a four-month period that was funneled back to the cartel. This money is coming from crimes such as drug and sex trafficking and selling fraudulent ID documents.
In December of last year, the Whitewater Police Chief wrote a letter to President Biden requesting help to address the increase of migrants in the city. The letter outlined how “Law enforcement staff have responded to a number of serious crimes linked to immigrants in some manner, including the death of an infant child, multiple sexual assaults, and kidnapping.”
I recently joined CNN to discuss how the unsecure border is impacting Wisconsin. Click here to watch.
How Does Border Security Impact Drug Trafficking?
At my border security town hall event, Detective Torres and Sherrif Zoerner explained the impacts and dangers of, fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic drug produced in Mexico that is flowing into our communities through the unsecure border.
There were roughly 1,300 deaths related to fentanyl in Wisconsin last year. In Kenosha County alone, 42 people died from a fentanyl related death. Hearing their perspectives on this issue is key to understanding the importance of securing our southern border. The real life encounters they highlighted shows how fentanyl is impacting our schools, communities, and families.
I held a roundtable in Milwaukee County recently that focused on combating illicit fentanyl where I was joined by local and national law enforcement officials to discuss ways local communities and the federal government can work together to protect communities in Wisconsin from this illicit drug.
Click here to learn more.
How Does Border Security Impact the Nation?
Since 2021, 7.8 million people have entered our country illegally, a number greater than the population of Wisconsin. In addition to the 7.8 million people who have entered our country illegally, since 2021 there are more than 1.6 million known gotaways.
Known gotaways refer to any detected illegal entrants who Border Patrol agents are unable to arrest. Even more concerning, since 2021, 362 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) have been apprehended at our southern border. Compared to the 11 TSDS watch listed non-citizens apprehended between 2017 and 2020, this is more than a 2000% increase.
As our communities continue to suffer under the weight of open border policies, it is more critical than ever that we get control of who is allowed to enter our country.
We must act to address these issues. I am working to secure the border, protect our local communities, and fix our broken immigration system by working to enact the Secure the Border Act. This comprehensive legislation would end catch-and-release, re-institute the Remain in Mexico policy, end exploitation of parole authority, and resume border wall construction. The bill would also end family separations, address the human trafficking crisis, and increase criminal penalties for illegal entry and visa overstays.
Click here to read the full bill.
On Wisconsin,
Bryan Steil
Member of Congress
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