OPINION:
The Biden administration recently released data showing nearly 200,000 illegal aliens crossed the southern border in July 2022, marking the seventeenth straight month that more than 150,000 illegal aliens crossed the southern border.
During a recent press conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that illegal aliens are not “walking across the border” and further claimed that the Biden administration has “a plan in place” to stop the invasion of illegal aliens rushing our border. Both statements are outright lies.
The Biden administration has no plan to combat this invasion. Each month that passes, the crisis reaches a new level and Yuma, Arizona, in my district is ground zero, as hundreds of illegal aliens known as “gotaways” simply walk across the border every single day. Yes, Karine Jean-Pierre, walk across.
Unlike Joe Biden, I have been to the border in Yuma, Arizona, many times and have witnessed streams of illegals, guided by human traffickers, wandering across the border. Many merely walk past our overwhelmed Border Patrol agents. In fact, Biden‘s own Department of Homeland Security estimates that more than 500,000 “gotaways” have walked across the border so far this year in addition to the nearly 400,000 “gotaways” estimated to have walked across in 2021, when Biden‘s reckless open border policies were first implemented.
The unfortunate truth is that Yuma, Arizona and much of America is under siege because Mr. Biden is actively encouraging the lawlessness taking place along the border. Since Biden and the open border democrats took over in January 2021, they have facilitated an invasion of our sovereign borders of more than 4.2 million illegal aliens. Included in this invasion are terrorists - over five dozen documented so far, drug traffickers, sex traffickers and common criminals.
In response, I introduced H.R. 4643, legislation prohibiting the admission of aliens to the United States for 10 years. Our nation cannot afford to accommodate unprecedented levels of any type of immigration when our porous southern border and broken immigration system work in tandem to prioritize illegal immigrants over legal ones. Those who wait in line, respect the rule of law, and economically contribute to our nation, are undermined by unfettered illegal immigration.
Sadly, one of the many deeply troubling consequences of Joe Biden’s open border policies is the deadly flow of fentanyl smuggled across the border in record amounts from Mexico. More than 2,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized by border officials in July 2022. That’s enough to kill 469 million people, or substantially more than the entire population of our country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a 134% increase in fentanyl seizures last year compared to 2020. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45 years old.
Earlier this year, I conducted a roundtable discussion in Arizona about the fentanyl crisis and our open border. Many law enforcement officers attended and heard the gut-wrenching testimony from the families of children who were poisoned to death by fentanyl. We must get tough on those criminals that are contributing to this drug crisis. I recently introduced H.R. 8228, legislation that would punish anyone who knowingly traffics fentanyl with the death penalty or life in prison. These drugs are killing our loved ones and plaguing communities all across America, not just in Arizona. Instead of reducing prison sentences for drug offenders, it is long past time that those responsible for manufacturing or knowingly distributing fentanyl pay a heavy price.
The situation at the southern border is dire. Mr. Biden’s open border policies are a welcome invitation to criminals and drug cartels to cross into our country unchecked. Joe Biden refuses to protect the people of America and he has lost the trust of its citizens. It is no wonder states like Arizona are now completing the wall themselves to stop the invasion. Arizonans have had enough and are taking matters into their own hands.
• Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S., is a United States Representative from Arizona’s Fourth Congressional District. He is the founder and Chair of the Congressional Nuclear Energy Caucus, former Chair of the Congressional Western Caucus, and served previously on the Natural Resources and Oversight and Reform Committees. He has introduced 16 bills that passed Congress, 24 other legislative initiatives became law and 84 amendments passed the House of Representatives.
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