Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 207,416 migrant encounters at our southern border last month, which makes it the worst June on record.
For perspective, this means there are more than enough illegal immigrants crossing the border every single month to equal the population of Mobile. June was also the fourth month in a row with more than 200,000 illegal encounters at the southern border, which is a 527% increase compared to the last June of the Trump administration.
Since President Biden took office, more than 3.1 million illegal immigrants have attempted to cross the border – and this is just the folks we know of. How many have crossed without our knowledge? Court documents show the Biden administration has allowed more than 1 million illegal immigrants to settle in the United States, and there have been 800,000 “got-aways” in the last 11 or so months.
One of President Biden’s first actions in office was his reversal of President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy. This was a very effective tool to fly illegal immigrants back to Mexico to await trial, but now the Biden administration is flying illegal immigrants to states like Alabama while they await trial.
This affects all our families, and the part that bothers me the most is that fentanyl overdoses are now the number one cause of death for Americans between 18 and 45 years old. So far this fiscal year, more than 8,400 pounds of fentanyl has been seized by Border Patrol, which is more than double the total for all of fiscal year 2020. For perspective, a small pack of sweetener can hold enough pure fentanyl to kill 250 grown men. Folks, this is a real crisis. We can’t continue allowing this to happen.
President Biden and House Democrats have failed to secure our southern border and enforce our immigration laws. As a result, every community in America is a border community because illegal immigrants and deadly fentanyl are spreading all over the United States. My Republican colleagues and I have been to the border multiple times, and we are working hard on countless bills to fix this crisis. Democrats refuse to let a single of these bills come up for a vote, but we are not giving up the fight until our southern border is secure and our families are safe.
Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
