by Tommy Hicks
I was at the border just this week. If President Joe Biden cared, he’d be there too. His Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly released its latest batch of catastrophic border numbers.
More than 239,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended in May — the highest monthly total in DHS history. Taking a step back, this means a shocking 3.5 million illegal immigrants have now crossed into the U.S. since Biden took office. This is not normal, nor is it accidental. It is a cataclysmic destruction of our sovereign borders at the expense of the American people.
Biden and his administration are to blame. In his first 100 days, Biden issued countless executive actions, including halting construction of the border wall and ending Trump’s successful “Remain in Mexico” policy under the banner of “compassion.” It was not Americans thanking him — but the illegal immigrants trying to cross over.
In fact, the Biden administration spent $72 million of American taxpayer money specifically to stop building the border wall.
Now illegal immigrants are simply pouring through the “gaps.” Perhaps even worse, deadly drugs are pouring in and wreaking havoc on our communities. Last year drug overdose deaths in the U.S. reached an all-time high. Pair this with the fact that in May, more than 1,101 pounds of deadly fentanyl and 10,528 pounds of methamphetamine were seized – not to mention what wasn’t caught. Together, the picture looks grim.
Furthermore, the most vulnerable among us — children — are dying in the orbit of destruction Biden has caused. Recently the body of a 5-year-old girl who tried crossing the Colorado River was found. There have been more. All this is happening as migrants are being traded and abused by cartels. In Harlingen, Texas, for example, 88 illegal immigrants including three children were found locked in a refrigerated trailer with no means of escape. And in Encinal, Texas, more than 111 illegal immigrants were apprehended after being smuggled into the U.S. in a tractor trailer without food or water — resulting in two deaths.
The liberal media refuses to cover this toxic combination of suffering and exploitation resulting from Biden’s policies. Historic comparisons alone would confirm the magnitude of this crisis, yet the corporate media refuses to cover it. In former President Donald Trump’s last full month in office, only 17 illegal immigrants were released into the U.S. This May, Biden released more than 21,000. Moreover, the number of those apprehended represents a 300% increase from the average May number under President Trump. This alone is a searing indictment of the open border policies of Biden and the far-left.
Biden’s dereliction of his sworn duty as President to protect American citizens should not be forgotten. 50 migrants on the terror watchlist have been apprehended trying to enter the U.S. between ports of entry since October. Who knows how many have entered undetected to wreak havoc in our communities? In just one weekend, one single Border Patrol sector saw 1,600 “gotaways” — just a sliver of the more than 600,000 gotaways who have escaped into our borders undetected since Biden came into office.
Even more egregiously, Biden’s policies have enabled illegal criminals to destroy American lives in ways both irreversible and unimaginable. Rhonda Exum — whose daughter Adrienne was killed by an illegal immigrant who should have been deported but was allowed to stay because of Biden’s immigration policies — said “by him not being deported, it’s like you telling me my daughter’s life didn’t mean anything.”
Meanwhile, Biden has inexplicably abandoned and demonized our Border Patrol. A Texas Department of Public Safety agent recently said, “Nothing has been done. It’s been the complete opposite – it’s actually gotten much worse.”
The Biden administration is instead smearing border agents for doing their job. They should be honoring Bishop Evans, the Texas National Guardsman who drowned at the border, and supporting every single dedicated law enforcement official.
Writers, reporters and historians must not botch the first draft of history in failing to detail how Biden willfully and woefully erased our borders, neglected to protect Americans and undermined the very men and women dedicated to protecting our communities.
The next chapter is still unwritten. But it will be key. November’s midterms elections are fast approaching, and every single Democrat that supports Biden’s open borders deserves to be voted out. Let’s close this sad chapter in American history which Biden has precipitated. We must reverse course before it is too late and our country forever changed and ravished by the radical left.
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Tommy Hicks is the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee.
