Risch: It's Past Time to Address Illegal Immigration, Sfrc Republicans Have Solutions

Press Conference

U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today led SFRC Republican colleagues in a press conference to discuss their recent report entitled " Biden's Border Crisis: Examining Policies that Encourage Illegal Migration ." The report highlights how the Biden Administration is undermining U.S. efforts to reduce illegal immigration and offers concrete recommendations to achieve safety and security both at the U.S.-Mexico border and in the region at large.

On the crisis at the U.S. southern border:

"There is a real crisis at our southern border… Since the new administration took office, over 2.6 million illegal immigrants have attempted to enter the country and have been encountered by U.S. personnel. That doesn't count the migrants who have entered the U.S. and did not have an encounter. Now, what does that 2.6 equal? If it was city, it would be tied for the third largest city in America. If it were a state, it would exceed the population of eleven states. This is a crisis in America today."

On the Biden Administration's failed illegal immigration policies:

"The prior administration, however you feel about them, took a number of actions to effectively stem the flow of illegal migration and build political will in neighboring countries to improve their law enforcement and asylum processing capacity. These policies were working. The attempted immigration and illegal immigration was a small fraction of what this current administration is allowing.

"[The Biden] Administration dismantled these measures and failed to put in place workable alternatives. The message sent was important. We all saw [immigrants] being interviewed on TV. They all said, if this president is elected, we are welcome here… [The administration's] policies are not only undermining our own efforts to reduce illegal migration, but also disincentivizing regional governments from taking action to enforce their obligations that would make migration more orderly, safe, and controlled."

On SFRC Republicans' proposed solutions to the illegal immigration crisis:

"The safety and security of U.S. citizens is at risk… The time to take action is now. We must establish effective immigration controls in the United States, including:

Extending Title 42;
Reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols and Asylum Cooperative Agreements;
Strengthening border security and migration management capacities in the region; and
Targeting TCO human smuggling and trafficking.
"If the administration implements these policies now, we will be able to improve the safety and security of our citizens at home and the region at large."

On Risch and Portman's new legislation to address illegal immigration:

"I have [also] introduced the Solving the Border Crisis Act with Senator Portman today, which would enact into law several of the findings of our report. Senator Portman is an expert on the problems illegal immigration is causing with the import of narcotics and other illegal drugs into the United States.

"I can't stress enough the importance of implementing these solutions immediately to protect our sovereignty and national security. We will be pressing hard to move this legislation right away. But, we are not naïve -- we're here because the administration wants to have this situation. They could fix it -- and they could fix it easily. This is not going to change unless the administration reverses course, but they probably won't. What we have in front of you is a blueprint for the next administrations to deal with this critical problem and restore America back to where people who come here legally are welcomed here."

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