Sen. Cruz Introduces Amendment to Add Border Security Policies to the Continuing Resolution
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced an amendment with 11 co-sponsors to add the Secure the Border Act to the continuing resolution. Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) are co-sponsoring the amendment.
Sen. Cruz stated, “It is imperative that any government funding bill include real border security measures. The Secure the Border Act would stop the Biden Border Crisis dead in its tracks and halt the invasion at our southern border. I am proud to be the Senate lead of the most comprehensive border security bill in decades, and it should be added to the continuing resolution to ensure that our government is enforcing the law.”
Sen. Tuberville said, “The crisis at our southern border gets worse with each passing day under Joe Biden’s watch. Americans are tired of sending taxpayer dollars to help other countries secure their borders, while leaving the floodgates open at ours. We are losing people every day to fentanyl and other deadly drugs that are pouring across the border. This madness must stop. I’m proud to join my Senate colleagues with this amendment, and I hope those on the other side of the aisle will help us address this severe national security issue.”
Sen. Barrasso said, “President Biden and the Democrats have surrendered our Southern Border to criminals, gang members, and drug dealers. Cartels are running a billion-dollar criminal enterprise that is flooding our country with illegal immigrants and deadly fentanyl in every state. Wyoming is no exception. This amendment is a critical step in successfully tackling this Democrat-made crisis. We must do everything in our power to provide security and safety to our communities and actually secure our Southern Border once again.”
Sen. Cotton said, “The Biden Border Crisis has invited cartels and terrorists to bring drugs and crime into America’s communities. Worse, his administration has no plan to do anything about the crisis. This amendment will require the continued construction of a border wall and give the Border Patrol officers the resources they need to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country.”
Sen. Cruz said, “President Biden’s shocking dereliction of duty on the southern border is killing Americans across our country, including my constituents thousands of miles away, a result of the unfettered flow of fentanyl and other deadly drugs entering the nation daily. President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas, and their enablers in Congress, are responsible. This unprecedented humanitarian, health and national security crisis needs to be addressed now. If my Democratic colleagues block our comprehensive amendment to finally secure the border, they will continue to be complicit in the harm and loss of life being inflicted on American families as a result of this preventable catastrophe.”
BACKGROUND:
Sen. Cruz introduced the Senate companion to the Secure the Border Act, which has the support of 30 co-sponsors. The Secure the Border Act passed the House as H.R. 2 earlier this year. The Secure the Border Act enacts effective border security solutions, including:
1. Requiring the Department of Homeland Security to resume border wall construction.
2. Increasing the number of Border Patrol Agents.
3. Tightening asylum standards by restricting asylum to only aliens who present at ports of entry and by requiring aliens to prove they are “more likely than not” to qualify for their asylum claim.
4. Narrowing DHS’s power to unilaterally grant parole to illegal aliens.
5. Criminalizing visa overstays by making the first offense a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and the second offense a felony punishable by up to a $2,000 fine and up to two years imprisonment.
6. Stopping NGOs from using tax dollars to transport or lodge illegal aliens and provide illegal aliens with lawyers.
7. Restricting DHS from using its CBP One app to welcome illegal aliens into the country.
8. Requiring employers to use E-Verify.
9. Ensuring CBP has access to the criminal history databases of all countries of origin and transit so that CBP is aware of the criminal history of illegal aliens encountered at the southern border.
The full text of the Secure the Border Act is available here.
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