On Monday, Congressman Jerry Carl and Mike Rogers took to social media to urge the Biden administration to act forcefully to slow border crossings.
“Nearly 2.4 million illegal immigrants have attempted to cross our southern border this fiscal year,” Rep. Carl said on Facebook. “We need to build the wall and put an end to this crisis!”
That is the highest number of border crosses that the Department of Homeland Security has ever encountered. Rep. Carl posted a graphic showing that the number of border encounters during the fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30, was up considerably from FY2021.
The 227,534 encounters with border crossers was a significant increase from September 2021, where there were 192,001 migrant encounters. That is markedly up from the crossings during the Trump administration, where Border agents encountered 57,674 migrants in September 2020 and 52,546 in September 2019.
“20 suspected terrorists were arrested at the southern border in September alone,” Rep. Rogers said on Facebook. “We need to secure our border and finish building President [Donald]Trump’s wall.”
Rogers referenced a Fox News report that 20 suspected terrorists were arrested along with the 227,000 migrants that the Border Patrol and Customs Enforcement encountered in its record September. Sixty-six people on the FBI’s terror watch list had already been captured trying to get into this country through July.
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville said on Twitter, “BOTTOM LINE: Democrats have created a humanitarian crisis at our nation’s Southern border, and they don’t care to stop it.”
Tuberville referenced a report by Fox News showing that 856 migrants have already died on the Southern border with Mexico.
Earlier this month, Congressman Gary Palmer said on Twitter, “Joe Biden’s disregard for the law has left our southern border in a crisis. This is an unsustainable path for our country. Americans deserve a nation that’s safe.”
Republicans have made the chaos on the southern border a significant election issue in the approaching midterm elections, while Democrats have largely ignored the border issue.
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy wrote on his website, “America is the greatest nation on earth. It wasn’t founded on ethnicity but a creed. Every day our broken immigration system gets worse and worse. It’s time to secure the border, enforce our laws, and find a real solution. We are a nation of immigrants but also a nation of laws. Securing the border has to be the first step in developing a realistic solution to our country’s broken immigration system. Immigration reform must take a common-sense approach that focuses on a long-term solution that is clear, concise, understandable, and enforceable.”
Eleven of the last twelve polls show that nationally voters prefer Republicans on a generic congressional ballot over Democrats. According to the most recent poll by Emerson, voters prefer Republicans 46% to 41% for Democrats. If this is an accurate representation of what voters are thinking and what they will do on election day, then Republicans likely will take control of the House of Representatives in the November 8 general election.
There is also a strong possibility of Republicans taking control of the U.S. Senate. The GOP has not controlled both Houses of Congress since 2018. If that happens, then Republicans will have to decide what immigration reform and enhanced border security look like to them – something they failed to agree upon even though they controlled both Houses of Congress and the presidency. If Republicans take control of Congress, they will still have to deal with the Biden White House on these issues.
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