On Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) led a letter of nine of his House colleagues to Director of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus. The letter is short and to the point, as it begins by letting the two men know that "We write to express our grave concern regarding the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) failure to fulfil their mission and protect our borders."
Townhall received an exclusive on the letter, which also calls out Mayorkas and Magnus for their failure to do their "stated missions" of being "entrusted with the crucial mission of protecting our borders from, weapons, drugs, and contraband and ensuring a regulated immigration system."
For the letter goes on to read that "contrary to your stated missions, and refusal to secure our border, we now face record-breaking illegal border crossings, a humanitarian crisis, and rampant drug trafficking and human trafficking." It also highlights how the open border has led to overdose deaths from fentanyl.
"Drug cartels are smuggling illicit drugs, particularly fentanyl, across the border for distribution into every community in America, leading to 108,000 overdose deaths last year alone. Further, the humanitarian crisis that persists at our southern border and in surrounding communities continues to endanger the health and safety of migrants and Americans alike," the letter continues. It later goes on to mention that "CBP data also reports there has been a 24% increase in drug seizure events at our border between FY 2019 and FY 2021. Specifically, fentanyl seizures increased by more than 1,000% at eight border ports of entry during FY 2021."
The failures of the Biden Administration are quantifiable in other ways, too. For 2021, CBP recorded over 1.7 million border encounters, which the letter references, and cites as "the highest single year total ever recorded." This year has already exceeded that, with August's numbers being the most recent available. "What is even more troubling is CBP has recorded over 1.9 million border encounters already in FY 2022," the letter goes on to mention.
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The agencies don't have much of an excuse, given that the letter mentions that DHS has a budget of $183.57 for FY 2022, and that CBP receives $25.74 million of that.
"It is our understanding that these funds are to be used to combat myriad threats like smuggling, illegal migration, and terrorism. Clearly, given the data, the agency is failing to fulfil its mission; we are still seeing record-breaking flows of illegal drugs like illicit fentanyl and migrants with no end in sight," the letter charges.
The letter doesn't merely put Mayorkas and Magnus on notice that House Republicans are onto them. It also asks them to answer the following questions by October 21, over three weeks away:
- Why have your agencies been unable to stop the illegal border crossings, humanitarian crisis, and the drug trafficking that is killing thousands of Americans? Do you need additional funding from Congress to solve these issues?
- Is DHS planning on repurposing funds to address this issue?
- Does DHS or CBP have enough trained personnel to respond to the increase in encounters and illicit drug trafficking? If not, please provide a breakdown of what specific roles need to be filled and how you plan to fill them.
- Has DHS or CBP requested support or resources from other federal agencies in the last fiscal year?
Other signatories include Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Ben Cline (R-VA), Tracey Mann (R-KS), and John Moolenaar (R-MI).
House Republicans have looked to put the Biden administration on notice for such a failure in other ways. Impeachment articles have been filed by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) against Secretary Mayorkas, and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) also has a plan to do so. Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH) also filed impeachment articles against President Joe Biden last September for his mishandling of the border.
The president has particularly low approval ratings for his handling of immigration issues. RealClearPolitics gives him an average approval rating of 35.2 percent, while 57.6 percent disapprove of his handling of the immigration issue.
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