Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (TX-14) released the following statement after voting for H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act.
“The current crisis at the southern border is unparalleled in our history,” said Rep. Weber. “For the last 841 days under the failed leadership of the Biden Administration our border has become a nightmare. We have seen chaos, lawlessness, and wide-open borders that have compromised our nation’s sovereignty. Today we passed one of the most comprehensive, aggressive, commonsense border bills desperately needed to secure our border. Due to President Biden’s dereliction of duty, our communities have become border cities, and human smugglers, drug traffickers, and terrorists endanger every American. To salvage our great nation, we must secure our border.”
Background:
This bill seeks to regain operational control of the U.S. international borders and keep the United States safe through the following means: Resume construction of the Border wall halted by President Biden, bolster Border Patrol by requiring the hiring of 22,000 officers and providing retentions bonuses, ending COVID-19 vaccine requirements for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees, upgrade technology along U.S. borders, authorize grants to local police who can aid in the federal governments mission to secure the border, restrict funding from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that facilitate or encourage unlawful activity, require compliance with federal DNA biometric collecting requirements, require certification that DHS has accurate and up to date criminal histories of aliens they encounter, prohibit Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from accepting a warrant for arrest at an airport security checkpoint, return use of the CBP One app to its original purpose, require a full report on the economic impact mass illegal immigration has on border communities and states, and allow for the eradication of Carrizo Cane and Salt Cedar.
The bill would also reinstate a program similar to the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP, also known as “Remain in Mexico”), end Biden Administration catch-and -release policies, clarify and strengthen the asylum process to deter meritless asylum seekers, fix our asylum system, end the Biden Administration abuse of parole authority, criminalize visa overstays, codify third-country asylum restrictions on illegal border crossers who did not seek protection in a country through which they traveled, cut off illegal U.S. labor markets—including through strengthening and mandating E-Verify, limit policies that encourage human smuggling of unaccompanied alien children (UACs)— such as the Flores settlement, and end the disparate treatment of UACs from noncontiguous countries.
