Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas telling them that due to the continuing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border a special executive position needs to be created to better the government's response.
While Republicans have had no qualms calling out the Biden administration for their disastrous handling of the massive influx of illegal immigrants, Cuellar has been one of only a few Democrats to say the Biden administration is doing a poor job at the border.
"We write to you with a sense of urgency regarding the escalating situation at our southern border. In doing so, we hope to demonstrate that this bicameral concern is neither partisan nor political. To solve the growing problem, we request a special executive appointment for border issues to ensure sufficient federal resources are allocated to overburdened U.S. border communities, and to recommend changes to our immigration policies as we work to regain control of the border," they wrote. "As you know, Department of Homeland Security ('DHS') facilities and personnel are overwhelmed by the growing surge of migrants, many of whom are unaccompanied children. We know this current influx is neither seasonal nor temporary. In June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection ('CBP') recorded 188,829 enforcement encounters at the southwest land border, the highest monthly total in a decade."
Graham and Cuellar said due to how overwhelmed Border Patrol is with illegal immigrants showing up with cases of COVID-19 cases, DHS needs to "create a special executive position vested with the authority to implement federal policies which prioritize the health and safety of U.S. communities at the southern border."
In their letter, they recommended former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson be the next "border czar" since he "carries an exceptional bipartisan reputation for pragmatic approaches to complex border security and immigration challenges."
Johnson faced an influx of illegal immigrants coming to the U.S. border in 2014 and "coordinated a thoughtful U.S. response to a migration influx event and prioritized certain eligible cases for immediate removal."
Vice President Kamala Harris was appointed by Biden to deal with the "root causes" of illegal immigration, specifically in the Northern Triangle countries of Central America, though Border Patrol has seen a dramatic increase in people from other parts of the world also crossing the southern border during her tenure overseeing the crisis.