This week, I joined the House Oversight Committee on a trip to the San Diego Sector in California, El Centro Sector in California, and Yuma Sector in Arizona to examine President Biden’s border crisis. I had the privilege of speaking with Border Patrol agents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, local law enforcement, and community members about the tremendous challenges they face as a result of President Biden's open border policies. 

My first visit was to the San Diego points of entry (POE). POEs serve as checkpoints for legal entry into the United States. The CBP officers stationed at POEs are tasked with seizing illicit drugs, money, and weapons from migrants, but they often rely on assistance from trained K-9 units. The sniff of a dog can surpass our most advanced technology, which makes them essential in protecting our nation. In San Diego, the CBP officers informed me that last year their talented and trained dogs played a significant role in catching over 4,000 pounds of fentanyl. After this trip, I'm making it a top priority of mine to work in Washington to support CBP with additional K-9 units to assist with the detection of fatal drugs. 

Between POEs in El Centro and Yuma sectors, Border Patrol agents emphasized to me the myriad of nationalities that are entering our country along the Southern border, including Colombians, Cubans, Haitians, Uzbeks and Indians, among many others. It is not solely folks from Mexico and Central America illegally crossing our border. In fact, migrants have been arriving from over 140 different countries. In areas along the border where migrants cross illegally, I saw littered hotel key cards, flight itineraries, and ID cards.

Migrants from all around the world are exploiting the same loopholes in our immigration system to be let into the interior of the United States within days because these loopholes are not a secret, they are advertised.

Often, the journey of a migrant seeking entry into our country starts with a payment to a Mexican drug cartel to smuggle them every step of the way to the Southern border. Once encountered by Border Patrol amidst the thousands of daily apprehensions, agents typically do not have time to ask important questions about why they came here illegally, such as reasons for seeking asylum, before bringing them into a Border Patrol facilities to be processed. Border Patrol usually only holds apprehended migrants for roughly 48 hours. Once released, they are simply given a "Notice to Report" to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office once they reach their final destination inside the United States. Additionally, before they are released into the country, it's appalling to share that ICE is currently handing out iPhones to these migrants, courtesy of the taxpayers. The intent of these devices is to track their location, but ICE agents informed me that many phones are left behind almost immediately. Now, they are inside the United States freely, and many migrants will vanish into the country and never report to ICE, despite their notice to do so. 

I was told that Border Patrol officials have had conversations with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other key players in the Biden Administration about the extent of the crisis. These officials have thus far refused to make meaningful improvements.

Currently, Border Patrol agents are facing around 8,000 apprehensions every day. Agents have said to me they don't have adequate support to handle even around 3,000 apprehensions in one day. As Title 42 is set to expire, the Biden administration itself has admitted they could see up to 18,000 encounters per day. This is one of the many reasons morale is low among Border Patrol agents. 

Instead of receiving even a hint of support from Washington, the Biden Administration has made the lives of Border Patrol agents more strenuous and dangerous. 

Under President Biden, the means to bypass our immigration system without identification or a sufficient background check is far too straightforward and well-known across the globe. The operation run by cartels to traffic any person willing to pay them is not just a business — it's organized crime. President Biden ought to fight back against the cartels before more American lives are put in danger from unidentified illegal migrants and deadly drugs.