WASHINGTON—Several weeks ago, The Heritage Foundation, along with an assembled coalition of prominent groups and leaders, urged lawmakers to unify in support of House Judiciary Committee consideration of what will eventually be a centerpiece of the flagship border security package the week of April 17.
Thankfully, Congressional leaders answered the call and unveiled the Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023 for committee consideration later this week, agreeing that the policies it contains are necessary to combat the chaos unleashed by the Biden administration on our borders. While this key component of an eventual flagship package had been previously announced and rescheduled in committee several times, it was not weakened or watered down, and is slated to include all the anticipated proposals in line with our coalition’s roadmap.
The coalition letter, sent on April 4, clearly noted the importance of what the Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023 contains:
“These policies are a common-sense response to the weaponization and defrauding of the asylum system as a tool to facilitate mass illegal immigration to the United States. They also make key reforms to the gross abuse of the parole system, which the Biden Administration is increasingly relying upon to import illegal aliens to the United States at an industrial scale. Furthermore, these policies would discourage parents from separating their own families to send unaccompanied alien children across the border, thereby protecting children from cartel, smuggler, gang, trafficking, and child labor abuse.”
The coalition also noted that what the House Judiciary Committee is slated to consider on Wednesday is in line with House Republicans’ promised agenda, and that the path to final passage of a broader, flagship package is clear:
"This reform package is in keeping with the Commitment to America that the entirety of the Majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives made. We were proud to work with you on strengthening that Commitment, holding the line against a lame-duck amnesty push by open-borders actors, and pushing for a flagship package.
"When the policies advanced by the House Judiciary Committee are combined with a forthcoming House Homeland Security Committee package into a single flagship bill, the House will have shown the American people a forceful response to the Biden Administration’s border crisis. These policies will save American lives, mitigate the human suffering of mass illegal immigration, and restore American sovereignty, security, and well-being."
