Exclusive: Two bipartisan House lawmakers announced a plan Wednesday to crack down on gun trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) are leading a bill to increase staffing at immigration screening points on the southern border and require testing of at least 10% of traffic leaving the U.S. and heading to Mexico.
The Secretary of Homeland Security would then be required to prepare a report on those tests and the feasibility of raising the minimum to 15 or 20 percent.
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Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Abigail Spanberger are working together on new legislation to crack down on gun and currency trafficking at the southern border. (Getty Images)
In terms of personnel, the bill would direct Customs and Border Protection to assign at least 500 agents dedicated to inspecting the flow of goods and people from the United States to Mexico, and would increase personnel at Homeland Security Investigations, with a special focus on currency and firearms smuggling investigations.
On the equipment side, the bipartisan bill also seeks to expand resources for southern border inspections, including adding 50 non-intrusive imaging systems, according to a summary previewed by Fox News Digital.
Crenshaw said the illicit flow of currency and firearms at the border is “fueling the drug cartel war in Mexico and the fentanyl crisis that is addicted to Americans.”
“As it stands, U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not have the resources to police southbound cargo flows, but this bill would remedy that and be a good step toward combating cartels and disrupting their business operations,” he said in a statement.
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People and vehicles cross the Paso del Norte Port Entry Bridge, which connects the United States and Mexico, in El Paso, Texas, on January 19, 2019. (Getty Images)
“As a former CIA case officer who tracked drug cartels, I understand how these criminals smuggle firearms and large amounts of cash across our southern border and move the illicit proceeds that fuel their criminal activity,” Spanberger said in a statement, citing his criminal justice background.
“We must continue to work to stem the flow of deadly fentanyl into our communities, and we can do that by working to cut off the ongoing supply of contraband that supports the drug trade,” she said.
Spanberger is set to retire from Congress at the end of the year to run for governor of Virginia, and Republicans see his seat outside Washington, D.C., as a golden opportunity to gain support.
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Her emphasis on border security, including her support for the bill and a now-defunct bipartisan Senate border deal, appears to be part of a broader paradigm shift for Democrats looking to retain the White House, Senate and House of Representatives in November.
Vulnerable Democrats in particular had stressed their support for the border deal, which ultimately died under fierce Republican opposition as the migrant crisis continued to strain cities and states across the country.
The bill would require Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to submit a report to Congress on border inspections. (Associated Press)
Spanberger and Crenshaw's bill is called the “Enhanced Southbound Inspections to Combat Cartels Act.” There is a companion bill in the Senate led by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and James Langford (R-Okla.), two of the architects of the original Senate border agreement.
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But even with bipartisan support, it's unclear whether the new House bill will pass unanimously. Republican opponents of the Biden administration, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, have responded to the Biden administration's request for more funding at the border by arguing that the money is not a sufficient solution to a fundamentally flawed policy.
Democrats, meanwhile, have accused Republicans of using the border crisis as a political tool.
