Myth v. Fact: Correcting the Record on Democrats’ Border Claims

Democrats are More Interested in Scoring Political Points than the Health and Safety of Migrants at the Border

WASHINGTON – We have a humanitarian and security crisis at our southwest border caused by a flood of children and families that our system is ill-equipped to handle. Rather than working across the aisle to provide immediate resources to address the border crisis and fix the root causes of this irregular migration, Democrats peddle misleading and incorrect talking points so they don’t have to admit President Trump is right.

 

It’s time to set the record straight.

 

MYTH: Crowded border facilities are the Trump Administration’s fault. Customs and Border Protection knew to expect large numbers of families and hasn’t done anything to prepare.

FACT: Border Patrol stations were designed to hold single men who could be returned to Mexico within hours, not families and children from Central America. The number of migrant families arriving at the border has exploded in the last fiscal year. Law enforcement has already apprehended more than 248,197 family members in the last eight months alone, which is more than double compared to FY 2018, when CBP apprehended 107,212 family members and up more than 1,670 percent since FY 2013, when CBP apprehended 14,855 family members.

 

Migrants are coming in record large groups, overwhelming law enforcement. Just last week, CBP apprehended a single group of migrants numbering over 1,000, the largest group ever recorded. The previous record was 424.

 

Democrats somehow expect the Trump Administration to create housing for hundreds of thousands of additional migrant families, without any additional funding. The administration has implored Congress to give it the resources it needs improve conditions − Acting DHS Secretary McAleenan testified before Congress and asked for an additional $4.5 billion to address the humanitarian crisis at the border.

 

So far Democrats have blocked legislation in the House to provide this humanitarian assistance. If Democrats were serious about improving humanitarian conditions at the border, they give the administration what it needs to properly process and house migrants. Without supplemental funding, humanitarian assistance aid will run out before the end of the summer.

 

MYTH: Democrats claim DHS already has tools to effectively secure the border and that the president is just preoccupied with border security.

FACT: Since taking over in January, the House Democrat majority has proposed ZERO solutions to address the crisis at the border. They have pushed messaging vote after messaging vote but have offered no legislative fixes. This is odd, considering they claim to be concerned about the well-being of migrants.

 

This week, Democrats are voting on H.R. 6, which will provide amnesty to millions of people – including gang members, migrants convicted of serious crimes as juveniles, and those with multiple DUI or firearms-related convictions. The American people deserve serious solutions. Democrats should focus their energy on fixing the loopholes in our immigration system that are the root cause of the border crisis and bring to the floor H.R. 586, the Fix the Immigration Loopholes Act.

 

MYTH: President Trump is manufacturing the border crisis.

FACT:  It’s no secret that President Trump has tried everything he can to address the crisis at the border. From declaring a national emergency, to flying migrants across the country to process them, to reassigning DHS personnel, to diverting operational funds to migrant medical care, President Trump is using every tool available to get solutions in place on the border.

 

The true cause of the crisis at the border is legal loopholes in our immigration system that smugglers are exploiting. Our broken immigration system makes children pawns for gangs and cartels. Smugglers’ own propaganda call children “permisos” or permits to get across the border and released in U.S. communities.

 

MYTH: Migrant deaths in U.S. custody are a policy choice. 

FACT: Any migrant death is tragic. The unfortunate reality is that migrants are arriving at our southwest border in poor health and often in need of urgent medical care. Smugglers and cartels don’t care about the health and well-being of the migrants they’re exploiting: migrants often walk hundreds of miles across rugged terrain without access to adequate water or shelter. Smugglers squeeze migrants in box trucks, which can cause them to suffocate, force them to hang onto flatbeds, and pack them into trunks. Women and children face brutal sexual abuse.

It’s no wonder why Border Patrol has taken more than 15,000 migrants to hospitals this year, averaging 71 trips per day.

 

The administration has taken meaningful steps to ensure that migrants are receiving adequate medical care – Acting Secretary McAleenan has ordered secondary medical checks on every child in CBP custody. Further, CBP is conducting a review of its care policies for minors.

 

Yet just today, House Democrats introduced an appropriations bill that actually CUTS CBP funding by $1.1 billion compared with this fiscal year. Only more resources will improve the dangerous conditions at the border. Congress must give the administration the $4.5 billion in supplemental funding it has requested to address the border crisis.

 

MYTH: Humanitarian conditions are concerning, but there is no security crisis.

FACT: DHS is sacrificing security to deal with the immediate influx of migrants at the border. 50 percent of Border Patrol agents are taken off the line to process and care for migrants every day. DHS is also detailing personnel from other components and departments to assist with the humanitarian effort.

 

Further, Border Patrol has closed all of its interior checkpoints along known smuggling routes. These checkpoints interdict drugs and illegal immigrants that made it across our border or through our ports, acting as another layer of security.

 

While diverting these resources have helped DHS respond to the immediate border crisis, they have sacrificed our national security.

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