HYDE-SMITH, COLLEAGUES ASSESS ONGOING BORDER CRISIS FOLLOWING FIRSTHAND VISITS

Miss. Senator Faults Biden Policies for Misery She Witnessed During Del Rio Border Sector Visit

012523 Border Speech 
VIDEO:  Senator Hyde-Smith Reports on Border Crisis, Lays Blame at Biden’s Feet.
VIDEO:  Senator Hyde-Smith’s Full Speech.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), who serves on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, today laid blame on Biden administration policies for the ongoing border security and humanitarian crises on the U.S. southern border.

Hyde-Smith and other Senators who conducted recent in-person visits to the border delivered successive floor speeches on the devolving southern border situation.  Earlier this month, Hyde-Smith and U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) assessed conditions in the Del Rio Border Sector.

“We learned how all of this affects our entire nation—not just the unbelievable price tag, but in the incidences of human trafficking across the country and tens of thousands of overdose deaths linked to fentanyl smuggled across the border,” reported Hyde-Smith.  “And, heartbreakingly, we learned of the wickedness of the cartels, which are thriving thanks to President Biden’s apathetic attitude toward his own country’s border.”

Saying President Biden “essentially set up a big neon sign on the southwest border that read, “VACANT,” Hyde-Smith attributed the surge of 4.5 million border apprehensions with an estimated 1.5 million undetected “gotaways” directly to failed Biden policies, including ending border wall construction and easing immigration restrictions.

“I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to go and listen to Border Patrol agents.  Hear the stories of the cartel’s victims.  See for yourself the heartbreaking scenarios the greatest country in the world is allowing to unfold,” Hyde-Smith said.

“I learned much from my visit to the border, but perhaps the worst thing I learned is this:  The Biden administration is not lacking any resources or authority to address this crisis.  No.  It can support our Border Patrol and border states.  It can secure our border.  It can save children from drowning in the Rio Grande or 14-year-old girls from being sold.  But it won’t—either through incompetence, or worse, by design,” the Senator concluded.

A copy of Hyde-Smith’s speech, as prepared for delivery, is available here.

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