06.18.24

Hoeven Statement on President Biden Unilaterally Creating Further Exceptions to Immigration Law

WASHINGTON - Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after President Biden announced unilateral executive actions to create additional exceptions to U.S. immigration law, compounding his administration’s refusal to secure the border and enforce the law.

“Instead of focusing on the fixing the serious security issues affecting our border, President Biden is again advancing policies that circumvent enforcement of the law,” said Hoeven. “We need real border security to end the illegal immigration crisis, not more election-year open border policies.”

Illegal encounters at the southern border continue to reach record numbers, rising from 1.7 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 to over 2.4 million in FY2023, with more than 1.5 million illegal encounters already occurring in FY2024. Further, 169 individuals on the terror watchlist were apprehended attempting to illegally cross the southern border in FY2023, followed by 80 such apprehensions so far in FY2024.

In response, Hoeven has been working to call attention to the illegal immigration crisis and push back on President Biden’s open border policies. Specifically, the senator is pressing the administration to:

  • Reinstate 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.
  • Strictly Enforce the Safe Third Country Agreements requiring that those coming from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala seek asylum there first, otherwise be returned to await the outcome of their claims.
  • Resume construction of the border wall at the nation’s southern border and put in place the technology, infrastructure and personnel needed to secure the border, utilizing funding Congress has already appropriated.

Hoeven also met with North Dakota National Guard members in Del Rio, Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas in recent years to highlight their missions in support of Customs and Border Protection operations. The senator has also reviewed border operations in the Rio Grande Valley and Brownsville, Texas, and traveled with a bipartisan congressional delegation to Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Guatemala to outline the need to work with these nations to stop illegal immigration and prevent human and drug trafficking.

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