Congressman Bill Huizenga | Rep. Bill Huizenga Official U.S House Headshot
Congressman Bill Huizenga | Rep. Bill Huizenga Official U.S House Headshot
Make no mistake, the past two years of chaos on our nation’s southern border have had a direct impact on Southwest Michigan. Communities across the 4th Congressional District and throughout Michigan have seen first-hand the deadly effect failing to properly secure our border truly has. For this reason, Republicans took direct action last week to regain operational control of our border by passing the Secure the Border Act.
The Secure the Border Act is arguably the strongest border security measure to pass either chamber of Congress in modern history. This legislation helps provide the resources our men and women serving on the border need by setting retention bonuses and hiring no fewer than 22,000 agents. These are not coordinators behind the scenes, but agents out in the field, actively keeping our nation safe. Additionally, by utilizing technology and building physical barriers, this will help provide our border personnel with the resources and tools necessary to uphold law and order, reduce the number of illegal crossings, curb the influx of deadly drugs, and protect unaccompanied children from human trafficking.
On May 12th, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz detailed how out of control the border truly is under the Biden Administration. In one week, 67,759 individuals were encountered illegally trying to enter our nation. At the same time, border patrol estimates that approximately 15,780 individuals evaded authorities and entered our country illegally in one week.
Even more concerning is the fact that last week, an individual on the FBI terror watch list was caught trying to illegally enter our country with a group of people near San Diego. Thankfully, this particular suspect was apprehended; however, we cannot afford to have dangerous individuals illegally entering our country undetected.
Border security is national security and with the passage of the Secure the Border Act, the Republican-led House has delivered a tangible solution to help resolve the crisis along our nation’s southern border.
If you need help navigating a federal agency, please visit Huizenga.House.Gov or call my office in Holland at (616) 251-6741 or in Washington at (202) 225-4401 so we can assist you.
This piece originally appeared in the Tri-City Record on May 18th.
Original source can be found here.
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