Mississippi Congressman Michael Guest–Vice Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security– joined several GOP representatives who visited the southern border Monday. They met with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Texas Dept. of Public Safety, and the Texas Army National Guard in the Del Rio Sector to learn about the strategies they are employing to address the southern border security crisis.
“I’d like to echo the comments of many of my colleagues. Our hearts and our prayers go out to Specialist Evans, someone who died doing what he loved, someone who died protecting his country, someone who died helping others. We must never forget the service of the men and women who wear the uniform, who protect this country each and every day, who fight to see that the rule of law is enforced.
I’ll tell you throughout our visit we have encountered one thing from every person that we’ve spoken with — that this is the worst they have ever seen the southwest border. Without exception every man and woman, whether it be those serving in law enforcement or those serving in the community, echoed those remarks.
We know that last month there was 221,000 immigrants who were apprehended across our southwest border. We’ve been told that once Title 42 expires — and it’s set to expire in less than 30 days — that that number will grow exponentially. The Department of Homeland Security has said [that] possibly as many as 18,000 immigrants a day will flood into our communities.
As we met with community leaders, community leaders told us two things: one they said that they felt abandoned — that this administration, that the federal government had abandoned them; and then they gave one very simple plea — please provide help.
To those members we met with today, I want them to know that those pleas do not fall on deaf ears — that myself and my colleagues behind us, we will take those pleas to Washington, DC, and that we will fight on their behalf. We will fight on behalf of the men and women who stand behind us, who stand here on this border protecting this great country that we love.”
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the White House’s effort to lift Title 42. While the CDC says Title 42 is no longer needed, the White House says its purpose was always to address public health, not immigration.
