Concern for Border Crisis Stretches Across Party Lines

WASHINGTON, DC— As the humanitarian and public health crisis at the border builds, Democrats and Republicans alike have vocalized serious concerns about the impact President Biden’s reckless policies are having on the surge at the border—indicating common ground and a great foundation for bipartisan conversation. Homeland Republicans continue to look for opportunities to work with Democratic colleagues to advance strong border security policies that protect the health, safety, and security of the United States.

Catastrophic For Our Country
Representative Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) said this week, “It will be catastrophic for our party, for our country, for my region and for my district in the middle of a pandemic. So, I think we need to have a better plan in place.”

Sending A Dangerous Message
Representative Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) cautioned, “If that is the message that we send to Central America and around the world, I can assure you, it won’t be long before we have tens of thousands of people showing up to our border.”
Border Communities Bearing the Brunt
Yuma, Arizona Mayor Douglas Nicholls says his border town is not prepared to handle an influx of migrants. “In about the last week, over week, they’ve been releasing into the community, we’ve had about 170 people so far released into the community, but we don’t have a shelter system, we don’t have any sort of resources really set up to address the needs and help with the transition to their ultimate location.”
No Consideration For Border Communities
Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls expressed frustration saying, “It’s kind of mixed feelings. One, it’s I can’t believe we’re here again, kind of response, but two, it’s frustration, because there were changes that were made, there was no outreach to our local community to try to prepare for that, from the administration or even a discussion of how do we react if this happens, there was no consideration.”

Contradicting Its Own COVID Protocol
Del Rio, Texas Mayor Bruno Lozano begged President Biden to stop releasing migrants into his community, saying “Releasing the migrant population without any COVID-19 protection protocols is undermining your commitment to the stance against COVID-19.”

Taking Care of Our People First
Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) stressed the need to prioritize Americans for vaccines before migrants, “I got communities in my district, people that have been asking for vaccines in the rural areas of the border towns, and they’re not coming fast enough. I think we’re going to see those numbers ramp up with more vaccines, but I want to take care of my citizens first.”

Encouraging Transnational Criminal Organizations
Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) warned, “The words that are spoken are not going to stop them. You got organizations, criminal organizations that make billions of dollars, and every time they bring somebody over here, they make a lot of money. So the organizations are going to move around, and you’ve got to have certain processes in place. Otherwise people are going to start continuing.”

Download the Border Surge “Startling Stats” factsheet here.

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