House Democrats have discovered the Biden border crisis and its results. Twenty-eight Democrats are pushing for $4 billion in emergency funding to stem the flow of fentanyl at the border and process migrants more efficiently.
Who knew the Biden border crisis is an emergency and a humanitarian crisis? Pretty much anyone who bothered to find out what is going on at the southern border, that’s who. Drug cartels have been allowed by Mexico to take control of portions of the border and the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl, has been a deadly by-product of the Biden administration’s neglect. Overdose deaths in the United States tied to fentanyl soared 279% from 2016 to 2021.
Rep. Gabe Vasquez, (D-NM) is taking the lead. The Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy asking for the emergency funding.
In a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Democrats emphasized the need for enhanced technology at ports of entry and more money for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. DHS agencies process migrants at the border, while HHS provides support services for migrants released on parole, particularly minors.
“It’s an opportunity for us to work together in a bipartisan way as the House votes on appropriations bills this month,” said U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico. “It includes $800 million specifically to make a dent on the fentanyl crisis that is affecting the entire country and, obviously, has its roots here on the border.”
Other sponsors include U.S. Reps. Veronica Escobar and Vicente Gonzalez, two Texas Democrats representing border districts.
For months, I've been calling for additional funding to stop fentanyl trafficking at our ports and now the Administration is calling for funding too.
I'm urging Speaker McCarthy to bring this emergency legislation up for a vote so Congress can address this crisis together. pic.twitter.com/VUUVZhaHKa
— Rep. Gabe Vasquez (@RepGabeVasquez) September 5, 2023
Color me skeptical about this sudden interest in the southern border from Democrats. Not too long ago, some of the Democrats in the Texas congressional delegation went to the Eagle Pass area to see the buoy barrier put up in the Rio Grande River. The Democrats accused Governor Abbott of abusive actions and human rights violations. They sided with Mexico that the buoy barrier must go. Now they put a price tag on solving the emergency caused by the porous border.
Could it be because there is an election coming up in 2024 and immigration and border security is a top issue with voters? Usually immigration is at the bottom of the list of voter priorities when election time rolls around. Not this cycle. Communities all around the country are dealing with illegal aliens. American taxpayers are on the hook, thanks to Joe Biden’s lack of border security policies. Every state is a border state in Biden’s America. There are illegal aliens in every congressional district in the country. Think about that. DHS has been strategically moving illegal aliens around the country to disrupt the make-up of communities. Democrats see future voters. That is why they have been complicit in Biden’s border crisis. They are ok with illegal immigration. It’s intentional.
Kamala Harris, the border czar, got in on the action yesterday, too. Even though she is out of the country attending a conference in Indonesia, she managed to post a tweet declaring the need for $800M in emergency funding.
To continue our efforts to combat fentanyl, we’re requesting nearly $800M to help reduce the influx of fentanyl across our borders and counter the threat fentanyl poses to our public health.
Some House Republicans want to shut down the government and deny Americans this funding.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 6, 2023
What she doesn’t address is the root causes we have repeatedly been told Kamala is working on to stop illegal immigration and secure the southern border. She has only made a couple of very quick trips to the El Paso area, not the epicenter of the Biden border crisis, only spending hours on the ground. She didn’t bother to tour the border wall. She didn’t tour the Eagle Pass area or Del Rio areas, trouble spots due to the flood of migrants coming across the border by by-passing the legal ports of entry. She had some photo ops and spoke with Border Patrol and local officials. Then she left as quickly as possible.
Whatever happened to working on the root causes? Could it be that corrupt Central America and Mexico don’t care about root causes? Kamala has never shown much of an interest in securing the southern border. Maybe if she actually did the work, there would be results. Biden and Harris have not exactly been setting the country on the right track with stellar work ethics. Kamala and Biden have not exactly been diligent in doing the work their positions require. There is a lot of time off, away from the White House, and empty entries into their work schedules.
The letter to the Speaker calls for additional acquisition of non-intrusive inspection technology. Border Patrol can inspect a higher percentage of commercial trucks coming from Mexico traveling to Southwestern ports of entry. Only 15% of those trucks, which number in the hundreds, that cross the border every day are subject to deep inspections.
The dirty little secret is that there is electronic technology already being used. About 90% of drug trafficking, including fentanyl, comes through ports of entry, not the border wall. Republicans like Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) have pushed for more non-intrusive ispection technology at the border. Those requests fell on deaf ears while Democrats controlled the House.
“The administration’s request for additional (money) for border management, immigration processing, and other programs will significantly contribute to DHS’ ability to efficiently process migrants at ports of entry, and to provide essential resources to recently released migrants through initiatives like the Shelter and Services Program,” the Democrat’s letter to McCarthy says.
The SSP program doles out money to non-federal entities that provide sheltering and other services to non-citizens apprehended by immigration agencies and then released pending the outcome of their cases. There’s an upcoming Sept. 11 deadline for non-governmental organizations to submit applications to SSP.
It’s good to see some Democrats waking up to the reality at the southern border. I just find the timing of their sudden concern interesting, especially from Kamala. Is it because there are efforts afoot to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas? Is it because some House Republicans are threatening not to play ball and pass the government funding bill required to avoid a government shutdown, even defund Mayorkas’ salary to make a point that the border must be secured before millions of additional funding is approved by Congress? Again, it was just a few days ago that Democrats were trashing Governor Abbott’s efforts to secure the Texas border, using Texas taxpayer money, I might add. What really brought on this sudden awareness?
Kamala is running for re-election and has visions of stepping in when Joe Biden bows out of the presidential race, if he does. Maybe she wants to look involved now. I don’t trust any of them after three years of the Biden border crisis destroying our national sovereignty, not to mention the destruction the drug trafficking and human trafficking is doing to our country. First, secure the border. Then we can talk about hundreds of millions of dollars of more spending.
