WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, published a report entitled "Biden's Border Crisis: Examining Policies that Encourage Illegal Migration" to highlight how the Biden administration is undermining U.S. efforts to reduce illegal migration and jeopardizing U.S. security.
“President Biden’s failed immigration policies have resulted in a crisis at the southern border. The number of migrants attempting to gain illegal entry to the U.S. is at its highest point in decades, and the flow of violent criminals and deadly fentanyl across the border is also on the rise,” said Risch. “Now is the time to address the border crisis. My report looks at the root causes of the illegal migration crisis, and offers concrete steps the Biden administration should take to secure the border and protect our national security.”
Problems that have spurred the border crisis:
- President Biden reversed important Trump-era reforms that effectively addressed illegal migration, and reinstated failed Obama-era policies.
- U.S. policy and foreign assistance efforts undermine U.S. efforts to build effective law enforcement and asylum processing mechanisms across Mexico and northern Central America.
- Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) benefit from the illegal migration crisis by profiting off the smuggling and trafficking of migrants or victimizing people along the dangerous journey.
- Other governments have failed to take action to enforce their obligations that would make migration more orderly, safe, and controlled.
Solutions to Biden’s border crisis:
- Extend Title 42 until the end of the COVID-19 health emergency and tighten ICE immigration enforcement.
- Fully implement the Migration Protection Protocols with Mexico and Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and tie U.S. foreign aid to measurable progress in border security and asylum processing in the region.
- Use extradition treaties with countries in the region to prosecute TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking.
- Tighten enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and prioritize U.S. technical assistance to improve asylum processing capacity in the region.
To read “Biden’s Border Crisis: Examining Policies that Encourage Illegal Migration,” click here.
For a fact sheet on the report, click here.
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