WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) released the following statement upon announcing a hearing for September 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM ET, to examine how the policies and actions of the Biden-Harris administration sparked the unprecedented border crisis that began in early 2021, how the crisis has undermined the safety and security of communities across our country, and how their unlawful, open-borders, and anti-enforcement policies impact DHS law enforcement:
 
“From day one, President Joe Biden and his ‘border czar’ Vice President Kamala Harris set about dismantling what was a secure border. They ended decades of bipartisan enforcement of America’s longstanding immigration laws. Border Patrol agents were forced to implement a policy of mass catch-and-release, while ICE’s interior enforcement capabilities were gutted—all in pursuit of Biden and Harris’ dream of open borders. Since the Biden-Harris administration entered office, CBP has recorded more than 10 million encounters nationwide, while ICE’s Non-Detained Docket has continued to explode. 
 
“As a result of these disastrous policies, millions of inadmissible aliens have been released into the interior, overwhelming our communities. The financial costs to cities and states now number in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Nearly 400 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have been caught illegally crossing our borders, and this administration released at least 99 of them into our country. More than two million known gotaways have entered uncaught—almost double the total number from the previous 10 years combined. Over 200,000 Americans have died from the fentanyl flooding across our open border. Precious lives have been brutally shattered or taken by criminal illegal aliens released under Biden and Harris’ directives. 
 
“Next week’s hearing will confront the American people with the inescapable truth: our once secure border has been thrown wide open by Biden and Harris. We will hear from former law enforcement officials forced to implement these reckless policies, and from those who were forced to confront the worst nightmare possible. I urge the media and the public to lend their ears to this upcoming testimony. This is the defining issue of our time.”
 
DETAILS:
 
What: A House Committee on Homeland Security hearing entitled, “A Country Without Borders: How Biden-Harris’ Open-Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security.”
 
When:  Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at 10:00 AM ET
 
Where: 310 Cannon House Office Building
 
WITNESSES:

Patty Morin
Private citizen

Aaron Heitke 
Chief Patrol Agent (Retired), United States Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The Honorable Jim Desmond
Board of Supervisors, San Diego County, State of California

The Honorable David Hathaway
Santa Cruz County, State of Arizona
 
Witness testimony will be added here. The hearing will be livestreamed on YouTube and will be open to the public and press.
 
 

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