Border Security

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, first, I would like to associate myself with the refined remarks of the Senator from Alabama because I, too, have come to talk about the crisis on our southern border.

The Senator from Alabama and I traveled together, along with Senator Cruz and Senator Cornyn, just a few weeks ago. I think we had a total of 19 Senators who went to see the crisis firsthand.

And, in fact, it is not just one crisis, as the Senator from Alabama and I have both spoken about. It is a double crisis. It is a national security crisis as well as a humanitarian crisis.

We went on a midnight patrol. And what did we see at midnight? Well, we saw, and we heard. Not just did we see the lights on, on the other side of the Rio Grande; we heard the catcalls from traffickers who were taunting our U.S. Border Patrol agents, saying in Spanish: You cannot stop us now. That is what we are hearing from the criminals and the traffickers across the Rio Grande.

We saw signs on the ground directing migrants to the facilities where they will then turn themselves in, and we spoke to the Border Patrol agents. They told us that their jobs got an awful lot harder on January 20, which is the day Joe Biden became President of the United States.

President Biden flipped over the sign and sent a clear message around the world that said the U.S. border is now wide open. Because of that clear message, Border Patrol arrests and detentions have doubled since January.

In March, Border Patrol took 171,000 migrants into custody. Nearly 19,000 of those were unaccompanied minors. That is an alltime record in the United States. And the pace that we are on now is to get to 2 million illegal immigrants crossing our border this very year.

According to the Secretary of Homeland Security, nominated by President Biden, this is the most in 20 years--the most in 20 years, right now, this year, under President Biden. The Biden White House has essentially told the world anyone under 18 can cross our border, and we will let you in. So it is no surprise that today we are seeing a historic influx of children, of teenagers crossing our border.

The Border Patrol agents tell us two-thirds of them can't do their regular jobs because they are too busy babysitting these children or escorting adults to the areas where they will turn themselves in. More children today are in Border Patrol custody than ever before. And in a day of a global pandemic, I will tell you, as I was there with the Senators in a location designed for 250 during coronavirus, there were 7,000 crammed in like sardines, with foil blankets to huddle under, and no social distancing--none at all.

This is a Biden-created humanitarian crisis. Under the law, children can only be in Border Patrol custody for 72 hours. We wouldn't want our own children there for 72 minutes. Yet there are thousands and thousands in custody for over 10 days

And 10 percent of the young people being tested are testing positive for coronavirus. We watched the testing in the courtyard where I was. They were all together, and then they tested some, and they said: OK. You test negative. You go that way. You test positive. You go that way.

But absolutely every one of them was exposed to each other. So with the fact that 10 percent are testing positive, it is highly likely that the remainder will test positive as well. And what is the Biden administration doing about that? They are sending those young people-- either those people just exposed to coronavirus, just standing right next to somebody with coronavirus, sending them all across the country, exposed to whoever knows what strain of coronavirus it was.

So this is a humanitarian crisis, but, I will tell you, it is also a national security crisis. The Department of Homeland Security has now arrested two men from the country of Yemen who are on the terrorist watchlist. The Border Patrol says they were apprehending people not just from Central America and Mexico, they have apprehended people from 56 different countries there at the border since President Biden has taken the oath of office.

Last week, Border Patrol agents outside San Diego arrested a member of MS-13, one of the most vicious criminal gangs in the world.

Now, these are just a couple of examples that we know about. Imagine things we don't know about, the people who haven't been caught, people who are roaming among us today in the United States.

That is what I hear about in Wyoming. I have just been home for 2 weeks talking to people. This is the No. 1 topic that I heard about traveling the State of Wyoming.

So we have two crises at the southern border: the humanitarian crisis and the national security crisis. President Biden has caused them both, and President Biden can stop them. Yet the Biden administration is still in denial. It refuses to even admit that there is a crisis. President Biden still hasn't been to the border. Neither has the Vice President, and she is supposed to be in charge of finding a solution to the problem.

So, once again, today I call on President Biden and Vice President Harris to go to the border and face the truth. Today is the day. Go to the border. Face the truth. The President and Vice President should talk to the Border Patrol agents. They should hear the stories that we have heard from them. It is the stories that they want to tell. They need to hear these stories. They need to face the reality.

Border Patrol agents told me directly: Finish the wall and bring back the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy because those are things that will make a difference. Until we do those two things, the jobs of the Border Patrol agents will continue to get tougher and tougher every day.

Vast numbers, vast majorities of American people support the Border Patrol agents. I know there are people on the other side of the aisle who want to eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement, want to get rid of the border line and having people who are patrolling the borders, want to get rid of it all and have open borders fully and without the kind of national security that we need at our borders.

But according to the Associated Press, only one in four Americans approves of how President Biden is handling the border situation. President Biden should listen to the American people. We need change at the border. We need it today. We cannot wait. Our national security cannot wait. The humanitarian crisis must be met and dealt with.

Republicans are going to continue to offer commonsense solutions that will make a real difference at the border. We want to finish the wall. We want to bring back the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy. We want to stem this crisis--the humanitarian crisis and the national security crisis-- that is facing our Nation today. We stand for enforcing the law, for closing loopholes that encourage illegal immigration. We want to secure the border.

So I would urge President Biden and all of my Democratic colleagues to please face the facts. Join us in our effort. It is time to bring this crisis to an end.

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