Hoeven Outlines Southern Border Crisis, Presses Biden Administration to Strictly Enforce the Law

WASHINGTON – During remarks delivered on the floor of the U.S. Senate this week, Senator John Hoeven outlined his recent visit to Brownsville, Texas, where he traveled to bring attention to the illegal immigration crisis on the nation’s southern border. The senator called on the Biden administration to secure the border and enforce the law, both to strengthen national security and to stem the flow of drug and human trafficking. 

“I’ve traveled repeatedly to the southern border, and each time I go, I see more and more people coming here illegally,” said Hoeven. “This is truly a crisis and one that has been caused by the Biden administration’s unwillingness to fully enforce the law and reinstate policies that have been shown very clearly to work. In Brownsville we saw this crisis firsthand, and we met with border patrol professionals, who told us what needs to happen to stop the flow of illegal immigration. We can get a handle on this crisis right now if the Biden administration would simply enforce the law. We know this from our border patrol professionals, the experts on the front line. 

“The Biden administration is creating a demand pull for these individuals, because they not only allow them to cross illegally, but they allow them to stay in the country illegally, while providing a work permit and benefits… We’ve got to enforce our border, and that’s not being done. Every American needs to understand that the Biden administration doesn’t need more laws or tools to secure the border. They have the tools and law to do it, they just won’t. They want an open border… It’s way past time to end the border crisis that the Biden administration has created. Border security is national security.”

In particular, Hoeven pressed for President Biden to: 

• Reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or Remain in Mexico Policy, which required people seeking asylum at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their case was adjudicated.
• Strictly Enforce the Safe Third Country Agreements requiring that those coming from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala seek asylum there first, otherwise be returned to await the outcome of their claims. 

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