North Houston News

WASHINGTON – Congressman Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Vice Chair of the Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee on the Committee on Homeland Security (CHS), released the following statement regarding the Border Reinforcement Act of 2023 that was cosponsored by all Committee Republicans and passed out of CHS on April 27. It will now be sent to the floor of the House of Representatives. 

 “President Biden and his Administration have failed to acknowledge the deadly, record-breaking crisis at our southern border, created by his dangerous open border policies and refusal to enforce the laws on the books,” said Congressman Luttrell. “The border security package we’ve put forward will address the Biden Administration’s homeland security failures by resuming border wall construction, revamping and adding reinforcements to border security technology, increasing transparency on gotaways and attempted terrorist crossings, and bolstering CBP staffing. Border security is national security, and this legislation is a major step to securing our nation and keeping Americans safe. I look forward to this bill being brought to the House floor for a vote and hope my colleagues across the aisle will see that this is far from a partisan issue.”

 As an original cosponsor of the legislation, Congressman Luttrell put forth the following provisions that will enhance our national security:  

•    Publication by CBP of Operational Statistics Sec. 19(a)(6-7) – Requires Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to report Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) hits and whether the individuals were released into the interior of the United States, in addition to reports on goataway numbers. 

•    Report to Congress on Terrorist Crossings Sec. 28 – Requires a report to Congress detailing which terrorist organizations are attempting to exploit the northern, southern, and maritime borders to get their members in. 

Other Key Parts of The Border Reinforcement Act of 2023: 

•    Resuming Border Wall Construction: Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume construction on the border wall.

•    Bolstering CBP Staffing: Requires CBP to hire and train an additional 22,000 Border Patrol agents to secure our nation’s borders. 

•    Modernizing and Enhancing Technology: Requires CBP to develop a technology investment plan, while upgrading existing technology to ensure each CBP officer is equipped with the necessary resources to remain safe in the field. 

•    Demanding Transparency from DHS: Requires DHS to publicly disclose and report to Congress information about illegal border encounters, including the known gotaway numbers on or before the 7thday of each month.

•    Addressing CBP Retention: Establishes retention bonuses for qualified frontline Border Patrol agents who serve a certain number of years in their role. 

•    Supporting Local Law Enforcement: Provides increased support through Operation Stonegarden grants to local law enforcement jurisdictions in land and maritime border states to enhance border security measures. 

•    Limiting Use of CBP One App: Reinstates the CBP One app’s function to its original intent and bars DHS from using it for non-commercial purposes, including immigration processing.  

Consequences of the Biden Administration’s Open Border: 

•    80 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have been stopped attempting to cross into America between Southwest ports of entry since October 2022.

•    Since President Biden took office, there have been over 5 million encounters at the Southwest border. 

•    There have been over 1.3 million known ‘gotaways’ who evaded U.S. Border Patrol agents in the last two years, which are only the ones we know about.

•    In Fiscal Year 2023 alone (6 months), CBP has seized 13,800 pounds of fentanyl coming across the Southwest border — enough to kill over 3.13 billion people, or the entire U.S. population over 9 times, yet Federal officials say CBP seizes just 5% to 10% of illegal drugs smuggled across the Southwest border.

•    According to a recent report from FAIR, the cost of illegal immigration for U.S. taxpayers is upwards of about $151 billion a year. 

Original source can be found here.