Unlike President Biden, I Visited the Border
By Abi Dills
After routinely ignoring the catastrophe at the southern border, President Biden recently tweeted disinformation by which he accused “MAGA Republicans” of slashing border security funding.
For local law enforcement and border patrol agents dealing with the ongoing crisis, this is a laughable allegation. Biden’s immigration fiasco is a product of his own policy making and his refusal to enforce the law. Former president Trump left office with one of the most secure borders in U.S. history. In two short years, the Biden Administration has completely lost control.
I visited the border in April of 2022 and spoke with community leaders, local law enforcement, and border patrol. Here are the top three problems at the border you should know about:
Abi Dills overlooking the Rio Grande River on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Historic Numbers
When I visited the border a year ago, I was shocked to hear just how much illegal border crossings have skyrocketed since Biden took office.
For the 2019 fiscal year, during the Trump Administration (the last year before Covid-19), U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 851,508 migrant apprehensions.
In 2021 the Biden administration broke all records with 1.72 million illegal alien apprehensions. That record was short lived, however, as the 2022 numbers blew everything out of the water with 2.37 million apprehensions. The Biden administration is setting all of the wrong records, and these do not even include the nearly 1.2 million “gotaways” who made it into American communities without being intercepted by Border Patrol agents.
Migrants being processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Hidalgo, TX.
Human Trafficking
During my trip to the border, I learned from personnel there that the Mexican drug cartels control every inch of the border. No one crosses without the cartel’s approval.
The Left constantly argues that securing the border is racist and uncompassionate for people aiming to pursue a better life in America. The real inhumanity, however, lies in the fact that an unsecure border only encourages cartel smuggling. Migrants pursuing a new life in America can only achieve this if they comply with cartels and subject themselves to sex trafficking, human enslavement, and possibly death.
There is also a huge problem with children crossing the border alone. Since the Biden administration took office, over 300,000 unaccompanied children have been trafficked across the border. These vulnerable migrants are subjected to horrific sexual, physical, and mental abuse along the way. It is often reported that migrant girls are found with a stash of Plan B emergency contraception pills because their parents know the horrors they will face as they follow Biden’s tacit cues to enter the U.S. unlawfully.
This heartbreaking video reveals the horrors of the cartel:
This is what happens when border security is deprioritized, and the law is not enforced. It’s a humanitarian crisis that Biden created.
Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, speaking about the Biden administrations failures to secure the border.
American families pay the price
In addition to the mass humanitarian crisis, the past two years have put the national security of the American people at risk. Since July, 66 known or suspected terrorists were apprehended, 23,264 individuals with criminal records, and 256 members of MS-13. And these are just the ones that got caught. Since Biden took office, there have been 1.2 million known “gotaways”. This means we have no idea what dangerous actors have gotten past our border and are roaming free right now. Open borders create a pathway for dangerous individuals to enter our country undetected.
Additionally, in 2022, 14,700 lbs of the lethal narcotic fentanyl were seized at the border. That’s enough to kill 2.5 billion Americans. Sadly, millions of pounds of fentanyl are pouring across the border. This influx is directly tied to the 71,000 American fatalities due to Fentanyl poisoning last year. While the Left carries on about their “compassionate” policies, Americans pay the price for their irresponsible actions.
The vice president, who is supposed to be managing the border but has done anything but, said in a recent Meet the Press interview: “We have a secure border, in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration.” If only that were reality.
My trip to the border opened my eyes to the tragedies occurring. I was shocked when I saw just how open the U.S. Mexico border is. There are some places that are only separated by brush and a small stream, leaving miles of land open and unguarded. While my group was examining a portion of the border wall, law enforcement with us got a call that a large group of migrants had been apprehended just a few hundred yards away.
The border crisis affects every American whether they know it or not. Major cities are becoming increasingly overcrowded along the border and across the country. Even cities thousands of miles from the border are greatly affected. In September of 2022, the mayor of Washington, D.C. declared a state of emergency due to overcrowding from buses of migrants arriving in the district.
An open border is unsafe for migrants and Americans alike. Local law enforcement and border patrol agents are affected by this crisis every single day. While government bureaucrats are safe in their secure buildings, illegal immigrants are flooding into the interior, making a mockery of the rule of law and overwhelming local communities.
Abi Dills works at the America First Policy Institute as an Executive Assistant to Chad Wolf and Policy Analyst for the Center for Opportunity Now. She lives in Virginia with her husband Jake and loves to cook, read, and host her friends.
