07.15.22

Hoeven: Biden Administration Must Enforce our Laws and Secure the Southern Border

Senator Reviews Operation Lonestar, Meets with CBP Leadership, Private Land Owners at Southern Border

MCALLEN, TX – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, traveled to McAllen, Texas with a delegation led by Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn in order to review operations at the Southwest border. The senators received a briefing from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) leadership along with an aerial tour of the border, held a roundtable with local private land owners and received updates from Texas National Guardmembers, National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

“The growing crisis at the southern border is due to the Biden administration’s policies, and their refusal to enforce key immigration tools, which is incentivizing more migrants to make the dangerous journey to the U.S.,” said Hoeven. “Border security is a key component of our national security. The impacts of the crisis at the southern border reach far beyond the communities in the immediate Rio Grande Valley, and it’s time that the Biden administration gets serious about enforcing common-sense solutions to stop human and drug trafficking and criminals from entering our country.”

Senator Hoeven outlined the need to:

  • Enforce our laws and secure the southern border, including resuming construction of the border wall and putting in place the necessary infrastructure, personnel and technology.
  • Reinstate key immigration policies such as:
    • The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or Remain in Mexico Policy, which required people seeking asylum at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their case was adjudicated.
    • The Safe Third Country Agreements so those seeking asylum from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala can be returned to their home country to await the outcome of their claims.
    • The Title 42 Public Health Order, an important tool that allows immigration officials to return illegal immigrants to their home country and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
  • Move toward a merit-based immigration system. 

This trip is Hoeven’s second time visiting McAllen, Texas and the latest of the senator’s efforts to call attention to the ongoing illegal immigration crisis at the southern border. Most recently, the senator traveled to Del Rio and Eagle Pass, Texas to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials and North Dakota Guard members and draw attention to their work at the U.S.-Mexico border. Hoeven previously traveled with a bipartisan congressional delegation to Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Guatemala to discuss bilateral relations, including the need to work together to stop illegal migration and prevent human and drug trafficking. 

In May 2022, CBP encountered more than 239,000 individuals attempting to cross the border illegally. Since October 2021, 1.5 million individuals have been caught trying to cross the southern border.  

-###-