WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation, along with the strongest-ever assembled coalition of border security and immigration groups and leaders, today released a signed letter calling for the new majority in the House of Representatives to follow through on their campaign promises in 2022 and immediately act to end the Biden border crisis, secure the border, and reduce illegal immigration.
The letter is the third such effort by the Border Security Coalition to ensure Congress takes action to end the historic border crisis directly caused by the Biden administration’s open-borders policies. Last spring, the coalition sent its first letter, laying out a host of policies that would end the crisis by reducing asylum fraud, securing the border, and closing loopholes in the immigration system that have long been exploited.
Congressional Republicans subsequently adopted many of these proposals as part of their policy platforms, including the American Security Taskforce and subsequent Commitment to America. In December, as special interest groups and the open-borders lobby sought to introduce lame-duck legislation, the coalition urged the Hill to hold the line.
This coalition makes clear to the GOP majority that the time for action is now, and that they will be expected to follow through on their campaign promises, particularly in ending the massive abuse of the asylum system:
“The American people have entrusted you with control of the House, and the clear commitment to restore order at our border was a key reason. With the situation worsening every day, confronting Biden Administration policies and flaws in our system that invite chaos and abuse at our borders cannot be delayed. This is a commitment Americans expect you to fulfill, but more importantly, they deserve immediate action.”
A small handful of Republicans in recent days have already begun to obstruct meaningful reforms that would begin to undo the damage caused by the Biden administration’s policies, particularly on reforming the asylum system. House Republicans, especially the leadership, must not only emphatically reject Biden’s open-borders agenda, but make clear that they will not tolerate obstruction to commonsense, proven fixes that will relieve the strain on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and begin to end the suffering Americans across this country are experiencing. The stakes are simply too high:
“Even as the Biden Administration now attempts to mask illegal immigration numbers by implementing unlawful mass parole under the guise of legality through the ports of entry, the damage continues to take its toll. It is past time to act to protect Americans from this Biden Administration-imposed crisis. It is time to hold those accountable who were entrusted to defend our borders and who have failed this country in the most destructive of ways. It is time to rebuke those who would hold border crisis solutions hostage to their demands for amnesty.”
Mark Morgan, former acting CBP commissioner, released the following statement on announcement of the letter:
“It’s time for House Republicans to follow through on their many promises to end the Biden border crisis, secure our border, and reduce illegal immigration. Going on cable news to talk tough about the crisis is easy—legislating to do so will take more commitment. The good news is that the solutions are right there in front of them. They work, they will be effective in ending this crisis, and they will begin to restore not just our sovereign borders, but our communities that have been ravaged by the consequences of Biden’s open-borders policies. We are watching closely to see if this Congress follows through on its campaign promises—and we stand ready to hold them to account if they don’t.”
Tom Homan, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, also released a statement:
“Congress needs to hold Joe Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, and everyone else responsible for this travesty accountable for what they’ve done to this nation. How many more lives need to be lost to fentanyl before Congress gets serious about this? How many women and children need to be sold into the sex trade by human traffickers? How many migrants need to die on the journey or in the desert? How many known or suspected terrorists intent on doing us harm need to be caught crossing our borders? This administration’s policies are dangerous and inhumane, and the new majority in Congress better get serious about doing something to stop them. We are quickly running out of time to fix this—act now, show some spine, or demonstrate that you care about border security to the same extent the left does.”
Signers of the letter include:
Organizations
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Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime
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America First Policy Institute
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Center for Renewing America
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Center for the American Way of Life
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Claremont Institute
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Conservative Partnership Institute
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Counterpoint Institute for Policy, Research, and Education
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Eagle Forum
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Federation for American Immigration Reform
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Heritage Action for America
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The Heritage Foundation
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Judicial Watch
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NumbersUSA
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The Remembrance Project
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Texas Public Policy Foundation
Senior Officials
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Ken Cuccinelli, former acting deputy secretary, Department of Homeland Security
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Joseph Edlow, former acting director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
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Gene Hamilton, former counselor to the attorney general, senior counselor to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
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Tom Homan, former acting director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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Christopher Landau, former United States ambassador to Mexico
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Derek Maltz, former agent in charge, Special Operations Division, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
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Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to the president of the United States
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Mark Morgan, former acting commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
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Rodney Scott, former chief, U.S. Border Patrol
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Lamar Smith, former member of Congress
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Russ Vought, former director, Office of Management and Budget
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Chad Wolf, former acting secretary, Department of Homeland Security
