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I hope you saw my latest weekly column.

 

ROGER WICKER: Border Crossings Are Up Four-Fold on Biden's Watch
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President Biden spent his first year in office pushing new taxes, spending,
and vaccine mandates. Securing our southern border, however, seemed to be his
lowest priority, and we are now seeing the consequences. According to new data,
Border Patrol officers encountered two million migrants entering the U.S.
illegally in 2021. That represented a nearly four-fold jump from 2020 under
President Trump. During the first year of Mr. Biden’s watch, drug smuggling
also surged, with fentanyl seizures up 223 percent and cocaine seizures up 168
percent. There was also a huge uptick in the presence of criminal aliens:
immigration officers arrested 10,763 illegal immigrants with criminal
convictions, a 341 percent increase from 2020. Taken together, these trends
made 2021 one of the worst years ever for U.S. border security.

More recently, it has come to light that the Biden Administration has been
quietly shuttling illegal immigrants throughout the country at night.
Undercover footage recently surfaced showing an airplane de-boarding migrants
in New York, where charter buses were waiting to take them to various
locations. These flights are still continuing daily and have cost taxpayers
upwards of $340 million. In the footage, one government contractor said the
Department of Homeland Security wanted to keep these flights “hush-hush,”
adding, “If this gets out, the government is betraying the American people.”
Mississippi has not been spared from these covert relocations. In July, dozens
of migrants were dropped off at a Natchez bus station without any warning.

Americans are right to be dismayed at these open border policies. The
President’s refusal to take even the most basic steps toward border security
have made our immigration crisis longer and more severe than it needed to be.
If he does not shift course, Americans will be left to believe Mr. Biden simply
does not care about illegal immigration.

Border Patrol Morale at All-Time Low

The President’s disengagement from the border has left many of our Border
Patrol agents feeling frustrated and betrayed. Even Raul Ortiz, the President’s
replacement to lead the Border Patrol, admits morale is “at an all-time low.”
Who can blame them? These officers signed up to protect our border, yet they
are increasingly being pulled off their patrols to care for migrant families
and children who are being shuttled into the country.

One particular low point in morale came last year when President Biden
promoted a false narrative that an officer on horseback had been whipping
migrants. This allegation was widely debunked – what some thought were “whips”
were actually reins being used to control the horse. Yet the President never
apologized or withdrew his threat that the officer would face “consequences.”
If this sort of antagonism from the President continues, I fear he risks
provoking a mass exodus of Border Patrol agents, which would leave our border
even more vulnerable.

Fixing the Border Is Not Complicated

Our border is porous and dangerous, but securing it should not be complicated
– and doing so should not be partisan. Not long ago, Republicans and Democrats
both recognized the importance of securing our border and controlling who is
able to enter. It is a shame that consensus is now gone. President Biden, who
once voted as a Senator to fund the border wall, now proposes cuts to our
border security budget, insisting instead that we study the “root causes” of
migration. Until he is willing to get serious about the border and work with
Republicans on solutions, we can expect more illegal immigration, drugs, and
crime to emanate from our southern border.

 

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Thank you for your support,

Senator Roger Wicker

 

 

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