A number of House Republicans from Texas are involved in an effort to get the federal government to reimburse those states and border towns that are collectively spending billions of dollars to secure the border in the face of what they assert is the Biden administration’s failure to control the migrant situation.
The Republicans recently introduced two bills that would provide for communities and states along the U.S.-Mexico border to regain part of the money they have spent on border protections out of their own funds.
Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) introduced the first bill, which would compel the federal government to repay any state that has spent more than $2.5 billion on border security during the last 10 years. Under the proposal, Crenshaw says, Texas would qualify for a reimbursement, having spent upwards of $3.2 billion on the border since the passing of the 2008-2009 state budget.
“Citizens of border States are being taxed twice for the same purpose,” reads Crenshaw’s bill. “States using their taxpayer dollars and allocating State budgets to meet public safety obligations, which fall under Federal responsibilities, imposes an undue burden on the State.”
The language of the bill argues that reimbursement is justified as a result of the “failures of the federal government.”
Representative Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) introduced the second bill, which would establish a grant program the Department of Homeland Security could use to repay those states or towns that are overspending on border security, thereby making up for the federal government’s insufficient action.
“For the past two years, the Biden administration’s failed border policies have left our border communities on their own to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border,” Jackson said. “Drug dealers, human traffickers, and cartel members are marching through these communities and devastating everything in their path, yet Biden is still silent.”
The congressman added, “Our border communities should not be paying for Biden’s America-last agenda.”
The grant pool created under Jackson’s plan would be worth $25 million per year for the next decade and give DHS the leeway to hand out the reimbursements to border communities on an as-needed basis. But no community would be allowed to get more than $500,000 per year.
Jackson’s bill also stipulates that the funds could only go to communities that are within 200 miles of the southern land border. In addition, sanctuary jurisdictions shielding illegal aliens would not be eligible to receive reimbursement money.
The move comes as Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has mounted pressure on Biden to take greater initiative in handling the border crisis. Among other actions, Abbott has appointed a statewide border official and voiced his support for efforts by House Republicans to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to secure the border.
New articles of impeachment against Mayorkas were introduced Wednesday by Representative Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who likewise introduced articles to impeach Mayorkas in 2021 when the House was still dominated by Democrats.
The new impeachment effort comes as immigration authorities have had a record 2.3 million encounters with illegal aliens in fiscal year 2022. More than 251,000 of those were in December alone.
The impeachment articles accuse Mayorkas of having “engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his duties as an Officer of the United States.”
The impeachment articles also maintain that the Homeland Security secretary did not implement the 2006 Secure Fence Act, which stipulates that DHS must “achieve and maintain operational control” over the border.
Yet another charge is that Mayorkas, in allowing illegal aliens to be released into the country, has violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and its provision that illegal aliens must be detained.
The House GOP is also gearing up votes to stop plans by the local Washington, D.C. government to not only let illegal aliens vote, but also reduce penalties for both violent and nonviolent crimes.
Congress has authority to reject laws that the D.C. Council passes. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Republicans will make full use of that power on this issue.
“What this resolution would do is reverse the decision by the D.C. council that would allow illegal aliens to vote,” Scalise said Thursday on the House floor. “As we all know, our southern border has been wide open under President Biden. Millions of people have come into our country illegally, and he continues to keep that border open.”
The congressman added that the D.C. law “sends the wrong message to those who are seeking to come into our country illegally.”
Representative James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Oversight Committee, authored the resolution to stop the D.C. law in its tracks. He fiercely rebuked D.C. for moving to give illegal aliens the vote, declaring:
The D.C. Council’s reckless decision to allow non-U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants the right to vote in local elections is an attack on the foundation of this republic. This move by the Council is irresponsible and will only exacerbate the ongoing border crisis, subvert the voices of American citizens and open the door for foreign adversaries to peddle influence in our nation’s capital.
Not only is the Biden administration failing to stop the flow of illegal migrants at the border; it is botching the tracking of these migrants after they have been detained.
The degree of the federal government’s failure to take control of the border crisis is exemplified by the release of new data revealing that nearly 600,000 illegal migrants who crossed the border without authorization since March of 2021 were not even charged or given a date to appear in court prior to being released.
Hundreds of thousands of these have fallen off the radar, adding to the rising illegal alien population in the United States.
