Peace Garden News

During a recent Senate floor session, Senator John Hoeven emphasized the urgent need for enhanced border security in the United States. He pointed out that since October, nearly 250,000 individuals have attempted to cross the southern border illegally. This figure excludes those who evaded U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Additionally, almost 2.5 million illegal entries were recorded in Fiscal Year 2023, marking a record high.

Hoeven expressed concern over the national security threat posed by this situation, noting that some individuals on the terror watch list are among those trying to enter the country illegally. He urged the Biden administration to enforce existing laws and secure the border by incorporating concrete measures into any supplemental funding package Congress considers.

"The cause of this crisis is clear, and the numbers do not lie," said Hoeven. "After just over a month into Fiscal Year 2024, nearly a quarter of a million people have tried to illegally enter the United States via the southern border. And these are just the individuals that we know about."

He criticized what he perceives as negligence by saying: "The American people can see the problem even if the Biden administration can’t, or worse, just continues to choose to ignore it. This crisis is the result of the Biden administration’s failure to secure our border, pure and simple… The administration’s current policies prioritize processing migrants who illegally come across the southern border and then providing them with housing, transportation, and other services once they enter."

Hoeven called for reinstating specific policies such as Migrant Protection Protocols or Remain in Mexico Policy and enforcing Third Safe Country Agreements while resuming construction of the border wall. He stated these measures are already legally sanctioned but remain unenforced by current authorities.

"And we need to include benchmarks that hold [the] administration’s feet to [the] fire and ensure these policies get enforced," Hoeven added. "The Biden administration must address [the] border crisis [and] enforce laws that kept monthly encounters lower under prior administrations because border security is national security."