President Joe Biden created the worst border security crisis in American history. He trashed former President Donald Trump’s secure-the-border policies, and the result is a humanitarian crisis, a drug crisis, and a national security crisis.
During our tenure of public service in Arizona, we have always seen firsthand whenever a president, from either party, chose to ignore our border. That is what is happening today. For the last 11 months, Biden has been content with an open border.
Trump made securing the border a priority. He created the “Remain in Mexico” policy, enforced Title 42 restrictions on entry by illegal aliens, and completed hundreds of miles of new border fencing. Our neighbors to the south knew Trump meant business. As a result, illegal border crossings slowed to a relative trickle.
Biden dismantled those and other Trump-era policies and embraced an open border that made all of us less safe. Biden has canceled border wall construction, halted deportations, emasculated the Remain in Mexico policy, and his administration has encouraged illegal entry into the country.
By delegating border security issues to Vice President Kamala Harris, he has allowed an incompetent leader to cede control of the border to violent transnational criminal organizations: the Mexican cartels.
Coyotes smuggle humans, and cartels employ mules as narcotraffickers to transport drugs and guns. They have no regard for human life or human dignity. It is estimated that almost two-thirds of women and more than one-fourth of men are sexually assaulted by the human smugglers or their traveling companions.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered Biden to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, but the president is slow-walking reimplementation while he continues to seek other legal support to thwart this important policy.
As a result of Biden’s willful attack on our border security, Yuma is facing an inundation of illegal aliens from more than a hundred different nations. The apprehensions of illegal border crossers in October of this year exceeded the Trump-era apprehensions by 2,647%!
Our dedicated Border Patrol agents are working hard with virtually no support from the Biden administration. Morale is low. Processing centers are overwhelmed. Detention facilities are grossly overcrowded. And some of our great county sheriffs in Arizona are employing their officers to assist.
When asked why Biden has not visited the border, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “He did drive through the border when he was on the campaign trail in 2008.” Yes, 13 years ago.
Recently, the Guatemalan president acknowledged that the Biden administration had not communicated with him about border security since June.
The federal government is constitutionally required, under Article IV, Section 4, to protect the states from invasions. Certainly, the more than 250,000 illegal border crossings per month qualifies as an invasion. As Biden has abrogated his constitutional duty, the states are entitled to protect themselves.
We have a plan to work together and address this crisis.
As Arizona’s next governor, Matt Salmon will revamp Arizona National Guard operations to stop this invasion. He will call a special session of the state Legislature to pass and enact laws against trespassing and other criminal conduct on the part of illegal aliens. He will ensure that the Department of Public Safety, the attorney general, and local law enforcement and prosecutors have the resources they need to arrest, prosecute, and detain those who enter Arizona illegally.
And he will make sure that there are detention facilities to hold them until they are deported.
He will promote litigation to hold the Biden administration accountable.
As a congressman, Andy Biggs will continue to lead efforts to hold Biden accountable. He will continue to bring members of Congress to the border to inform them of the actual status. He will continue to meet with Border Patrol agents, local law enforcement, residents, business owners, and ranchers so that he will persevere as the Republican leader in Congress on border issues.
We need strong Republicans at the state and federal levels. Arizona’s next governor must be a proven leader who will drive this issue, hold Washington accountable, and make the protection of Arizona’s citizens a top priority with informed and practicable policies.
Our state cannot afford to have weak or erratic leadership at home. The stakes are too high, and Biden and Harris have betrayed Arizona.
The Grand Canyon State must be ready to defend its own sovereignty.
Andy Biggs, a Republican, represents Arizona’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Matt Salmon is a Republican candidate for governor of Arizona.
