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Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, last week, President Biden visited the southern border--just his second such trip in his entire half-a- century-long political career. While I suspect his visit was motivated more by the thought of an election year photo op than by a desire to see the border crisis firsthand, the President should--should--be visiting the southern border. But more than that, the President should be taking action on the border, real action--the kind of action that will actually do something to help stem the crisis we are facing, because we are facing a crisis.

The number of migrant encounters at our southern border in January was the highest January number in more than 20 years. That, of course, followed a recordbreaking and staggering, I would add, 301,983 encounters in the month of December--not only the highest December on record but the highest total for any month ever. And there is no end in sight. The first 4 days of March saw 7,000-plus migrant encounters each day, putting us on track for yet another month of 200,000-plus migrant encounters at the southern border.

Of course, none of these numbers include ``got-aways,'' and those are individuals whom the Border Patrol saw but was unable to apprehend. There have been approximately 1.8 million known ``got-aways'' since President Biden took office and an untold number of unknown ``got- aways'' over the same period.

Now, this is a crisis on many levels. It is a logistical and enforcement crisis, it is a humanitarian crisis, and it is a national security crisis. Our Nation is simply not secure as long as we have hundreds of thousands of unknown individuals taking up residence in our country.

In fact, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, speaking about the number of ``got-aways'' at the border, told FOX News:

[T]hose are the numbers that really keep us up at night, because if you know that all you need to do is turn yourself in to the Border Patrol and go through the process, what possible reason would you have for wanting to evade capture? Could it be that those are the folks that probably have criminal intent?

Chief Owens was referring to the fact that under the Biden administration's lax asylum system, individuals who show up at the border claiming asylum are frequently released into the country with court dates as much as a decade into the future. His point, of course, is that when turning yourself in to the Border Patrol with a claim for asylum is likely to result in years of essentially legal permanent residence, it is especially concerning that we have hundreds of thousands of individuals choosing not to turn themselves in to the Border Patrol but escaping into the interior of our country. Given that, it stands to reason that many of these ``got-aways'' have more malign intentions.

While there are always various factors that affect the flow of illegal immigration, we are on track for a fourth--a fourth-- recordbreaking year of illegal immigration under the Biden administration because of the actions President Biden has taken or failed to take.

From the day he took office, when he rescinded the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border, President Biden made it clear that border security was at the bottom of his priority list. Over the 3 years since, he has turned our southern border into a magnet for illegal migration--from repealing border policies of his predecessor to misusing our asylum and parole systems, which are now providing temporary amnesty to hundreds of thousands of individuals who are here illegally.

Recent news reports suggest that President Biden is thinking of taking new, more substantial immigration action aimed at helping to finally stem the flow of illegal migration. I hope that is true, although given his record, I am not holding my breath.

The President helped create this crisis, and he should end it. For example, tightening the asylum claims, as President Trump did, could help weed out many of the specious claims that are being made that allow individuals to take up long-term residence in our country.

With 75 percent of respondents in a recent poll describing the situation at our southern border as ``a very serious problem'' or ``a crisis,'' perhaps election-year politics will do what 3 years of recordbreaking immigration has not done, and that is, force the President to take his responsibility for our Nation's security seriously and finally shut down the flow of illegal immigration at our southern border. But, as I said, given the President's record, I am not holding my breath.

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