Katko Calls Out Biden’s Alarming & Unprecedented Decisions Fueling Border Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, issued the following statement on the Biden Administration’s decision to allow migrants previously required to remain in Mexico as part of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) into the United States beginning February 19.

“As Americans are routinely told to shut down their businesses, stay home, and avoid ‘non-essential travel,’ the Biden Administration is now opening the door to let over 25,000 migrants into the United States who previously attempted to enter illegally. This is nothing short of outrageous, but sadly it is only the beginning.

“Those being re-processed south of our border by international organizations, who will determine their eligibility, will soon be released into U.S. communities as they get added to the 1,000,000+ immigration court backlog. Adjudication will take years. As more migrants catch wind of the reimplementation of “catch-and-release,” the surge on our border will be unimaginable. President Biden has kept his campaign promises to the thousands of migrants looking to illegally cross our borders. Yet he has failed to ensure a vaccination plan, let alone a simple COVID-19 testing program, is in place for frontline CBP and ICE personnel, even after thousands have contracted the virus in the line of duty. Our federal law enforcement officers deserve better

“As CBP encounters at the border top 3,000 a day on average, we have swiftly moved into the dangerous territory of the 2019 border crisis. The situation at the border, combined with the raging pandemic, has created a perfect storm of security, humanitarian, and public health concerns.

“This is terrible policy, and I have been warning of this impending crisis for weeks. In fact, I recently led a united coalition of all House Homeland Security Republicans sounding the alarm on how misguided decisions like this only accelerate the crisis at the southwest border. These actions already have and will continue to have detrimental effects on our immigration system, border security, and our country. This crisis could be preventable, but only if commonsense prevails. Enough is enough. President Biden must put politics aside before he risks our nation’s security posture and erodes border security and immigration policy any further or this humanitarian crisis will fall squarely on his shoulders.