118th CONGRESS 2d Session |
Condemning the Biden border crisis and the tremendous burdens law enforcement officers face as a result.
May 8, 2024
Mr. Higgins of Louisiana (for himself, Ms. Letlow, Mr. Brecheen, Mr. Guest, Mr. Ezell, and Mr. Green of Tennessee) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
Condemning the Biden border crisis and the tremendous burdens law enforcement officers face as a result.
Whereas the Biden administration brazenly eliminated effective and lawful Trump administration immigration enforcement policies, directly leading to the worst border crisis in the history of the Nation and affecting every State;
Whereas the Biden administration’s failed border policies have resulted in an exponential rise in illegal alien encounters, totaling more than 9,300,000 in less than 4 years;
Whereas over 1,800,000 known “gotaways” have crossed the border illegally and evaded apprehension, with the administration having no idea of their identity, whereabouts, or intent;
Whereas at least 362 individuals on the terrorist watch list have been apprehended trying to illegally enter the country between ports of entry since fiscal year 2021;
Whereas fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are pouring into the United States, forcing local police departments to issue naloxone, a lifesaving medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, to every officer;
Whereas the suffering endured by the American people from the unprecedented rise in dangerous crime and historic levels of drug-related deaths is the direct result of an unsecured border;
Whereas elected Democrats from Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Washington, DC, have declared states of emergency as a result of the border crisis;
Whereas Democrat-led sanctuary cities have slashed city budgets, including funding for law enforcement;
Whereas law enforcement officers in the United States have suffered through calls by politicians and activists to “defund the police” and are now suffering from historically low levels of recruitment and morale as a result of these attacks to their profession;
Whereas migrant gangs, such as the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, actively recruit newly arrived illegal aliens into theft rings and criminal networks;
Whereas New York City Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban has warned New Yorkers of a “wave of migrant crime”, and Democrat Mayor Eric Adams has claimed the migrant crisis will “destroy New York City”;
Whereas, on February 23, 2024, Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra was arrested and charged with the murder of 22-year-old student Laken Riley;
Whereas Ibarra entered the country illegally in September 2022 and was subsequently released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection into the interior;
Whereas, on March 2, 2024, an illegal alien, who entered the United States as a “gotaway” at an unknown time and location, allegedly struck and killed Washington State Trooper Christopher Gadd;
Whereas a Haitian national who entered the United States via the unlawful Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan parole program, was arrested on March 13, 2024, for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl at an illegal alien shelter in Massachusetts;
Whereas an illegal alien from Lebanon apprehended while illegally crossing the southwest border on March 9, 2024, admitted to being a Hezbollah terrorist and having intentions to make a bomb;
Whereas, on March 21, 2024, illegal aliens in El Paso rushed the border fence and Texas National Guard troops in an effort to breach the border into the United States;
Whereas a previously deported illegal alien was charged on March 23, 2024, with murdering 25-year-old Michigan resident Ruby Garcia;
Whereas, on March 27, 2024, an illegal alien from China illegally breached a military base in California and refused to leave;
Whereas, on January 27, 2024, 2 New York City Police Department officers were assaulted by more than a dozen illegal alien suspects in Times Square, many of whom were set free without bail; and
Whereas law enforcement officers are increasingly targeted and assaulted by illegal aliens while Democrat elected officials prioritize illegal alien criminals over citizens and legal residents of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
(1) acknowledges that United States law enforcement officers are bravely facing dangers and challenges every day that are exacerbated by the unprecedented crisis at the border, which affects the entire country;
(2) condemns the open border crisis that President Joe Biden, “Border Czar” Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and other Biden administration officials have willingly created along the southwest border;
(3) urges the Biden administration, and State and local elected officials, to encourage and support dedicated law enforcement officers so those officers can protect the homeland, their cities, counties, or States, and restore law and order; and
(4) recognizes and sympathizes with law enforcement officers in the United States who have suffered through the mental, physical, and psychological stress associated with the lack of support, trust, and respect they face in our country today.