Malliotakis: Biden has Turned Over our Southern Border to Cartels
(MCALLEN, TX) - Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, along with House Republican Whip Steve Scalise and members of the Republican delegation, yesterday and today visited the southern border, met with Customs and Border Patrol Officers (CBP) and toured the Donna Migrant Processing Facility to see firsthand the devastating national security, humanitarian, and health crisis caused by an unprecedented surge in border crossings.
Malliotakis' trip to the border reaffirmed her belief that the Biden Administration's immigration policies lack compassion for the migrants who are being exploited, the law enforcement whose hands are tied as they are overrun by smugglers and the American people who are paying for it.
“What I have seen, experienced and heard at the border is absolutely heartbreaking and truly puts me at a loss for words," said Congresswoman Malliotakis. "At this facility alone, CBP officers have apprehended nearly 1,000 convicted felons, 63 gang members, 102 sex offenders, 20 AK-47s, along with thousands of pounds of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and meth - and that's only what they've caught. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the capacity for this facility is supposed to be 250 people, but right now over 4,000 migrants are housed there. It's clear the Biden Administration's dismantling of previous agreements with Central American countries and failure to secure our border is only incentivizing organized crime, tying the hands of our CBP officers and putting every single American at risk.
"As a government, we cannot pick and choose which laws we'd like to enforce especially when it comes to health and safety of American citizens. The only winners here are the heartless, emboldened smugglers, cartels and suspected terrorists who are raping women, abusing children and profiting nearly half a billion dollars every month. It is absolutely unacceptable that the Administration is allowing this crisis to continue; it must immediately address the flow of illegal migration into our country to even begin solving the immigration crisis as a whole."
Malliotakis added: "The Biden Administration's immigration policies lack common sense. In fact, by mid-Summer of this year, the number of illegal border crossings will surpass the population of at least six states, including President Biden's home state of Delaware. As the daughter of immigrants, I'm willing to work with my colleagues to implement common-sense solutions, but it must start with securing our border, reinstating agreements that put processes in place, immediately deporting those who have committed crimes and not rewarding those who have broken the law by putting them ahead of immigrants who are following the rules."
On Thursday, members met with Border Patrol Agents and participated in an evening ride-along tour with the National Border Patrol Council. Today, members toured the Donna Migrant Processing Facility, received an operational brief, toured the border wall in McAllen and participated in a riverine tour with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Watch Republicans' press conference at the southern border HERE.
To download more images from the trip, click HERE.