Sen. Scott Calls on White House to Enforce the Law at the Border

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and 13 of their Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution denouncing the Biden administration’s open border policies, which have fueled the largest border invasion in American history. Last month, nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants crossed the open border and at least 10 million individuals have illegally crossed into the U.S. since President Biden took office. 

“We cannot have a secure border and a safe America with a president who refuses to enforce the laws on the books,” said Senator Tim Scott. “President Biden and his open border policies have allowed for the largest border invasion in American history, provided a safe harbor for people who violate our nation’s laws, and put American lives and our national security at risk. He owns the border crisis and all its consequences.” 

“President Joe Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas have created the worst border security crisis in our nation’s history. The Biden administration’s open border policies have incentivized the unlawful crossing of the U.S. southern border by more than 9 million illegal aliens, including criminal aliens and suspected terrorists, from all around the world,” said Senator Rick Scott. “The laws of the United States are the same today as they were when President Trump successfully secured our southern border. Everyone knows that President Biden used executive power to open the border and has the authority to close and secure the border but is purposefully failing to do so. I am proud to lead my colleagues in this resolution which affirms the authority of President Biden and his administration to secure the border and immediately end this crisis.” 

This resolution is cosponsored by Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.).

Read the resolution in full here.

BACKGROUND 

Senator Scott has pushed back against the Biden administration’s dangerous open border policies and fought to protect Americans by:

• Supporting the Laken Riley Act to ensure that America’s streets are safe from illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes;
• Championing bills to stop sanctuary cities and keep American communities safe from the failed policies of progressive politicians who have allowed violent criminal illegal immigrants to continue committing crimes;
• Visiting the U.S.-Mexico border to discuss the illegal immigration crisis with CBP officers and federal officials;
• Championing the Creating Obstructions Necessary to Address Illegal and Nefarious Entry Rapidly (CONTAINER) Act, which empowers border states to place temporary barriers on federal land in order to protect their communities;
• Advocating for the Keep Our Border Agents Paid Act, which ensures CBP and ICE agents and contractors continue to be paid in the event of a shutdown as President Biden’s southern border crisis continues to spiral out of control;
• Fighting for the Secure the Border Act of 2023 to address the Biden administration’s open border crisis by increasing the number of Border Patrol Agents, resuming construction on the border wall, tightening asylum standards, criminalizing visa overstays, and prohibiting DHS from using its app to assist illegal immigrants; 
• Condemning the Department of Defense’s decision to auction off approximately $260 million worth of border wall construction materials;
• Championing his Securing Our Border Act, which redirects $15 billion of funding passed by Democrats to hire 87,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents and utilizes it to bolster security measures along our southern border;
• Introducing the Alan T. Shao II Fentanyl Public Health Emergency and Overdose Prevention Act to utilize powers similar to those under Title 42 so that the Department of Homeland Security continues to expedite the processing and removal of migrants illegally entering the country in response to the fentanyl-related public health emergency; and 
• Authoring the bipartisan Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, a sanctions and anti-money laundering bill aimed at combatting the country’s fentanyl crisis by targeting the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers in China to the cartels that traffic the drugs in from Mexico. The bill was unanimously voted out of the Senate Banking Committee and earned 66 Senate cosponsors.