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 Congress to abandon half measures to deal with the historic border crisis sparked by the Biden administration’s open-borders policies. The letter provides a clear roadmap to help Congress put an end to the Biden border crisis, re-secure the border, and ultimately reduce illegal immigration. 

While the Biden administration regularly flaunts the laws Congress passes, Congress has failed to close loopholes and address legislative conditions that allow them to do so. The stakes are too high for that failure to continue. The next Congress will have a mandate to deliver lasting reforms and this letter is intended to help them realize it.  

The letter states, in part:  

“When the 118th Congress opens with new majorities in both chambers, it will be in large part because Americans have rejected the Biden administration’s purposeful dismantling of our nation’s borders. Congress should be emboldened with the mandate to immediately legislate unflinchingly, ensuring that neither this nor any future administration are again able to weaponize the loopholes in the immigration system to purposefully drive mass illegal immigration to the United States. … The opportunity to legislate has been missed in several previous Congresses but the stakes are too high for it to be missed again.”   

Above all else, the signers agree, Congress should categorically reject amnesty—of any kind. They also lay out other primary components of the border security legislation Congress must move quickly to pass, including the following:  

• Create an authority to immediately expel illegal aliens across the border  

• Substantially reform asylum system, including clarifying that an alien is ineligible for asylum in the U.S. if they traversed a safe third country 

• End the disparate treatment of contiguous vs. non-contiguous unaccompanied alien children (UACs) under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) 

• Fix the Flores 20-day detention ruling 

• Raise the credible fear standard 

• Mandate and appropriate resources for completion of the border wall system 

• End abuse of the parole authority 

• Restrict prosecutorial discretion to remove it as the catch-all excuse for limiting immigration enforcement 

• Mandate full implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), otherwise known as Remain in Mexico 

• Codify Matter of A-B-, which clarifies that gang violence and domestic violence are not grounds for asylum 

• Eliminate discretionary grants of employment authorization under 8 U.S.C. 1324A(h)(3) 

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts released a statement upon publication of the letter:  

“President Biden has completely lost the nation’s trust on border security and immigration. Now is the time for us, together as movement, to put forward a positive vision. A nation without borders is not a nation at all. Americans are rightfully enraged that the Biden administration has thrown open our borders and allowed the drug cartels and human traffickers to take operational control of our sovereign border. The consequences are disastrous. Congress either needs to be part of the solution, or admit they are part of the problem.  

 

“There is no time left for half measures. We must return to the policies that worked to secure our border under President Trump, and get creative in implementing new solutions that will reduce illegal immigration, protect our sovereignty, and win the support of working-class Americans. We are willing to work with any member of Congress who wants to join us in this effort. And I am particularly proud of the tireless service and incredible work Mark Morgan and Tom Homan, in particular, have put forth in recent days to make sure the American people know the impact of this crisis, but also how to fix it.” 

Mark Morgan, Heritage visiting fellow and former acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), added:  

“The Biden administration has broken our borders, undermined our national security, and endangered Americans across this country—and Democrats in Congress have stood by and watched it happen. When new majorities take control next year, they must immediately begin the work of undoing the catastrophic damage done by Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas, and the open-borders advocates. The policies in this letter provide the perfect starting point.  

 

“For far too long, Republicans have talked about ‘comprehensive immigration reform,’ which translates to amnesty, or simply advocated throwing more money at the border to solve the latest crisis. Those days are over. Those policy prescriptions are a recipe for failure. If you want to truly secure the border through reducing illegal immigration, implement policies that work. We look forward to working with members to make that happen.”   

Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Heritage visiting fellow, added: 

“President Biden and his administration inherited the most secure border in American history, and immediately, from day one, moved to un-secure it. There is simply no debating this objective reality. President Biden has effectively demolished Border Patrol’s ability to secure the border, and he has essentially abolished ICE by making it almost impossible to deport those here illegally. Congress, and the American people, are the only ones who can truly hold him to account now. To stop this catastrophe, Congress needs to do something it has never done before—truly get serious about border security, put aside Washington double-speak about ‘comprehensive immigration reform,’ implement policies that put America first. Secure borders save lives. It’s time for Congress to do its part.”

Signers of the letter include: 

Organizations:  

• Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime 

• America First Policy Institute 

• Center for Renewing America 

• Center for the American Way of Life 

• Claremont Institute 

• Conservative Partnership Institute 

• Counterpoint Institute for Policy, Research, and Education (CIPRE) 

• Eagle Forum 

• FAIR 

• Heritage Action for America 

• Heritage Foundation 

• Judicial Watch 

• National Border Patrol Council 

• NumbersUSA 

• Texas Public Policy Foundation 

Former senior officials: 

• Ken Cuccinelli, former acting deputy secretary, Department of Homeland Security  

• Joseph Edlow, former acting director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  

• Gene Hamilton, former counselor to the attorney general, senior counselor to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

• Tom Homan, former acting director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement  

• Christopher Landau, former United States ambassador to Mexico

• Derek Maltz, former agent in charge, Special Operations Division, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 

• Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to the president of the United States

• Mark Morgan, former acting commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection  

• Rodney Scott, former chief, U.S. Border Patrol  

• Lamar Smith, former member of Congress 

• Russ Vought, former director, Office of Management and Budget 

• Chad Wolf, former acting secretary, Department of Homeland Security