Top House Republicans debuted a comprehensive plan to regain control of the southern border that they would seek to implement if conservatives retake the House or Senate this November.
The American Security Task Force on Friday pledged to take action on a plethora of immigration and border policies they said would alleviate the record-high illegal immigrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border that has unfolded under the Biden administration.
“I think we’re going to be very aggressive, and I think the administration will have some choices to make,” Rep. John Katko (R-NY), who led the task force, told Fox News. “Do they want to spin their wheels for two years and get nothing done, or do they want to work with Republicans if the Republicans are in the majority and start doing some of the things that Republicans want?“
The Republican plan pulls from previous initiatives used by the Trump administration and is meant to address the state of the border before conceding to the Democrats’ demands on providing solutions for people living in the country illegally.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO FINISH PORTION OF TRUMP’S BORDER WALL FOLLOWING PRESSURE FROM DEMOCRAT
The proposal touts the need for a physical barrier, infrastructure, and technology on the 2,000-mile southern border. Although the Trump administration funded 800 miles of border wall projects, it completed just over 450 miles, and many were replacement fencing. The influx of illegal immigrants crossing the border is one indicator that the addition of border wall has not prevented people from coming into the United States.
Republicans want to bolster staffing levels at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the 60,000-person federal agency tasked with inspecting vehicles and apprehending people attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.
The plan also calls for the clearing of tall grass known as carrizo cane that grows along hundreds of miles of the Rio Grande in Texas and makes it difficult for Border Patrol agents to see and walk through.
“If you’re not securing the border, all this talk about immigration reform is superfluous,” Katko said. “We have to secure the border first and then have the more difficult discussions about immigration reform, which we must have.”
Conservatives also called for the enhanced use of Trump-era initiatives, including returning asylum-seekers to Mexico for the duration of their court proceedings and immediately turning away all illegal immigrants on the basis that the country is in a public health crisis.
Families would not be released into the U.S. after being apprehended, but they would be detained together in custody. Unaccompanied migrant children from countries other than Mexico and Canada would no longer be admitted into the country as suspected victims of human trafficking.
Brandon Judd, the president of the Border Patrol union, endorsed the plan.
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“The National Border Patrol Council staunchly supports these solutions because we are currently witnessing unprecedented public safety and public health crises that are the direct result of the Biden Administration’s radical open borders policies,” Judd said in a statement.
