Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee on Monday hired more Border Patrol agents, resumed construction of the border wall, and border security packages to provide additional technology in response to the ongoing crisis at the southern border. will be announced.
The 2023 Border Strengthening Act will focus on border security, funding and staffing. Areas such as asylum reform and detention requirements are addressed in separate legislation approved by the Judiciary Committee last week. The Homeland Security Commission bill accompanies that law.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the bill’s introduction, an aide to the committee said it was intended to fulfill House Republicans’ commitments to the United States.
The bill would resume construction of the border wall, which was largely halted at the start of the Biden administration after years of building efforts under Trump. It requires the Ministry of Security to use funds already allocated and expired to resume construction. It will also increase Operation Stone Garden subsidies to law enforcement agencies along land and sea borders and provide more technology upgrades at the border, such as two-way radios and license plate readers.
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March 15, 2023: Rep. Mark Green questions Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz. (screenshot)
Separately, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) mandated at least 22,000 border guards to be staffed up from about 19,000 currently on duty, so that they no longer act as processing coordinators. need to do it. While the Biden administration has increased the number of agents at the border, many have been moved to handle immigration to the interior of the United States.
The bill also seeks to address the struggle to retain Border Patrol agents, who have seen morale decline under the devastating crisis at the border, by giving agents retention bonuses. It also requires the government to release monthly information on data, including the number of “runaways” at the border.
Another part of the bill restricts the use of the controversial CBP One app, which the Biden administration expanded to allow immigrants to book at ports of entry. process and encourage immigrants to legally apply for asylum at the port of entry rather than entering the country illegally. has become a “concierge service” for
The law returns to its original focus used for commercial purposes during the Trump administration, ending immigrants’ ability to schedule appointments at ports of entry.
Commission aides said they believed the bill was written in close collaboration with the Judiciary Committee and had support across the Republican convention, giving them high confidence it would pass Congress. ing.
DHS Director Alejandro Mayorcas testifying before a House hearing in April 2022 (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Several hawkish immigration groups have urged Republican leaders to pursue broader border and asylum laws such as those currently being introduced by the commission, and support both bills. Laura Reese, director of the Border Protection and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, on Thursday hailed the Judiciary Commission’s bill as a “bold response” to the immigration crisis, tackling asylum fraud, moving to end child smuggling, emphasized compulsory electronic authentication.
“When the policies advanced by the House Judiciary Committee are fully combined with the House Homeland Security Committee’s package to be considered next week into a single flagship bill ready for rapid passage, the House will It will show the American public a strong response to the decisions of the Biden administration: the border crisis,” she said.
The Commission has held a number of high-profile hearings related to the border, and witnesses included Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.
It recently marked 100 days of “very slow” surveillance of the administration, including 230 briefings and meetings, 23 surveillance and document request letters, more than a dozen site visits and seven public hearings.
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The introduction of the bill comes ahead of the end of Title 42 on May 11 next month. Officials feared the end of an order that allowed border officials to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants at the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — There will be a surge in immigration in the spring and summer.
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Republicans in the House and Senate have held tense hearings on several committees in recent weeks, calling for the removal of House Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas. The Biden administration says Congress should instead focus on fixing a “broken” immigration system.
