Meuser speaks of southern border visit

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser this week joined Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republicans in Eagle Pass, Texas, to visit the southern border.

During the trip, the members of Congress received a briefing from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, met with local stakeholders, and toured the border with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

This trip marks Rep. Meuser’s third visit to the southern border.

Meuser said since President Joe Biden was sworn in, more than 8.5 million migrants have illegally crossed the southern border, and experts estimate an additional 1.8 million “got-aways” have evaded detection and successfully entered the interior of our country.

Meuser, R-Dallas, said Customs and Border Protection sources indicate that in December 2023, more than 302,000 migrants were encountered at the border — setting an all-time monthly record. Meuser said this is a 308% increase in illegal border crossings from December 2020.

“The border crisis created by the Biden Administration is a national security threat,” Meuser said. “Unknown individuals from around the world are exploiting our open border, and 296 people on the terror watch list have illegally crossed the southern border since President Biden was sworn in.”

In addition to the terror threat, Meuser said the open border has enabled drugs, such as fentanyl, to freely flow into the U.S.

”Tragically, opioid overdose driven by fentanyl has become the number one cause of death for Americans 18 to 45, claiming more than 100,000 lives each year,” Meuser said. “Illegal immigration is costing U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and Pennsylvania is directly feeling the effects of the crisis at our southern border.”

Meuser said a report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that 251,000 illegal immigrants now reside within the Commonwealth. The report states that Pennsylvania is paying an estimated $1.64 billion a year related to these illegal immigrants — placing the Commonwealth in the top third of states that pay the most. The average cost per undocumented immigrant living in Pennsylvania, along with their U.S.-born children is $4,845 per person.

“My visit to the southern border today confirmed what we already knew — the situation on the ground is an absolute catastrophe,” Meuser said. “The Biden Administration’s open-border policies have created a disaster scenario that is endangering American lives and our states’ economies. Drugs, like deadly fentanyl, are coming across our border in massive quantities, and border cities are riddled with crime. The state of our southern border is worse than it’s ever been, and it’s created a dangerous situation for both American citizens and illegal immigrants.”

Meuser said there have been more than 800 migrant deaths while attempting to cross the border.

Meuser said this trip came on the heels of Secretaries Mayorkas and Blinken meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador last week to discuss the record-breaking number of illegal crossings, which on many occasions have surpassed 10,000 a day.

Early last year, Meuser said House Republicans passed H.R. 2, the strongest border reform package in history. The legislation would end catch-and-release, end abuse of parole authority, reform the broken asylum system, restart Remain in Mexico, and finish the wall.

“Unfortunately, Democrats in the Senate continue to block its passage,” Meuser said.

But as the Associated Press reported earlier this week, that’s not how the Democrats see things.

The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, came as the Senate engages in delicate negotiations in hopes of striking a deal on border policies that could unlock Senate GOP support for Biden’s $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. security priorities.

Biden has expressed willingness to make policy compromises as the historic number of migrants crossing the border is an increasing challenge for his 2024 reelection campaign. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House staff have been involved in the Senate negotiations.

“We’ve got to do something,” Biden told reporters Tuesday night. He said Congress should approve his national security proposal because it also includes money for managing the influx of migrants. “They ought to give me the money I need to protect the border,” he said.

Administration officials have criticized Johnson’s trip as a political ploy that will do little to solve the problem. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Republicans were compromising national security by threatening to shut down the government and delaying approval of funding for additional border security.

“We need to fix the border. There’s virtually unanimous agreement among Democrats and Republicans about that,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. He added: “Everyone’s going to have to give something to get this done.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.