WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — In 2021, there were more than two million apprehensions of “undocumented border crossers” according to the U.S. Border Patrol. In the Yuma Sector alone, the numbers jumped from 8,800 in 2020 to almost 115,000 last year.
As a result – and in anticipation of the Biden administration ending Title 42, the federal mandate that has allowed Border Agents to expel 1.7 million newly arrived migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19, on Monday, May 23rd – some Republican members of Congress took a multi-day tour of some border crossings and other facilities in southern California and Arizona.
The House Committee on Oversight & Reform’s Ranking Republican Member James Comer (R-KY,) along with Congressmen Pete Sessions (R-TX,) Andy Biggs (R-AZ,) Yvette Herrell (R-NM,) Glenn Grothman (R-WI,) Byron Donalds (R-FL,) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) visited facilities such as Ped West in San Diego last week, where hundreds of Ukrainian refugees are being granted access into the U.S.
While in California, the Congressmen and women also toured areas along the border barrier – including an iconic section where the fence runs into the Pacific Ocean (at right.)
Their goal was to “examine firsthand President Biden’s border crisis.” On Tuesday, they toured Customs & Border Patrol facilities in Southwest Arizona around the city of Yuma, Arizona.
The United States Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector is comprised of approximately 181,670 square miles of primarily desert terrain divided between California and Arizona.
It secures 126 miles of the U.S. Border from the Imperial Sand Dunes in California to the Yuma-Pima County line in Arizona, and consists of vast open deserts, rocky mountain ranges, large drifting sand dunes and the ever-changing Colorado River.
It secures 126 miles of the U.S. Border from the Imperial Sand Dunes in California to the Yuma-Pima County line in Arizona, and consists of vast open deserts, rocky mountain ranges, large drifting sand dunes and the ever-changing Colorado River.
Comer and the others involved in the tour believe President Biden’s border policies are flawed, and say President Biden is “rewarding illegal immigration.”
“We’re here, we learned a lot, we’re angry. We came here upset with this administration, and now we’re leaving even more upset,” said Ranking Member Comer during a news conference held at the conclusion of the border tour.
Added Florida’s Cong. Donalds, “If the administration said, ‘We’ll process asylum claims but we won’t do it at the southern border, this would end overnight. The cartels would know you can’t charge people to take the journey to get here.”
And, they expect illegal crossings to surge once enforcement of Title 42 is officially rescinded by President Biden on Monday, May 23rd.
Added Florida’s Cong. Donalds, “If the administration said, ‘We’ll process asylum claims but we won’t do it at the southern border, this would end overnight. The cartels would know you can’t charge people to take the journey to get here.”
And, they expect illegal crossings to surge once enforcement of Title 42 is officially rescinded by President Biden on Monday, May 23rd.
“Quite frankly, this is as bad – worse than I’ve ever seen it – and it’s going to get worse as Title 42 goes away. There will be more people coming in than ever,” said Arizona Cong. Gosar.“What we’ve been told by DHS is that they are expecting 18,000 crossings per day,” Gosar said.
Immigration advocates the past few weeks have welcomed the end of the Title 42 policy, pointing out that that showing up at U.S. borders to apply for asylum is lawful, while alleging that Title 42 has left thousands of asylum seekers no other choice but to enter the country illegally, turn themselves in to Border Patrol, and request asylum.
