Column: Washington’s Inflection Point for Immigration Reform

Earlier this week, House Republicans passed the most significant immigration and border security reform in over a decade in response to the record number of migrants surging across the border since the start of the Biden Administration. In fact, this week the Biden administration allowed Title 42, an effective tool against illegal immigration, to expire with no plan to manage the wave of individuals planning to come. 

Per the most recently available data, over 5 million migrants have been apprehended at our border and 1.3 million have gotten away since President Biden took office a little over two years ago. While the quantity of individuals fluctuates periodically, for 25 months straight over 150,000 migrants have been documented crossing our southern border every month. On top of the surge in individuals, record seizures of illicit drugs are also occurring. Customs and Border Patrol has reported seizing over 14,000 pounds of fentanyl – enough to take the lives of over 3.1 billion people— in our current fiscal year alone. This is all expected to worsen with the lifting of Title 42.

Title 42 was a Trump administration policy put into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently preventing the full spectrum of consequences of President Biden’s open-border policies. Officials estimate the number of individuals seeking entry into our country at the southern border could soar up to 14,000 a day now that Title 42 is no longer in place.

While the White House has offered little in the way of a plan to deal with the issue at hand, House Republicans fulfilled our commitment to deliver a solution by passing H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, to address all aspects of the crisis. This legislation would restart construction of the border wall, increase the number of Border Patrol agents and provide bonus pay, strengthen protections for unaccompanied children from human trafficking, end the current “catch and release” policy, and streamline our asylum process.

House Republicans have created meaningful legislation put together through the thoughtful consideration of several committees to achieve real change. I hope our efforts are not in vain and can spark action in both the Senate and the White House. If we cannot work together to address the very real crisis happening at our border and impacting cities across the country now, will we ever be able to?