Yesterday, Congressman Michael Guest (MS-03) participated in a Committee on Homeland Security hearing with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandra Mayorkas testifying. In his remarks, Congressman Guest pointed to statistics and statements from his colleagues to show how policies from the Biden Administration have created the humanitarian crisis on the border.
Congressman Guest referenced a Customs and Border Protection report from February 2021 that reveals more than 100,000 migrants were encountered at the southwest border, which represents an increase of more than 170 percent from February 2020.
Guest also highlighted how the crisis on the southern border is a growing concern for both Democrats and Republicans, quoting three Democratic Members of Congress:
Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX) – “We are weeks, maybe even days away from a crisis on the southern border. Inaction is not an option… Migrants are illegally crossing, potentially exposing border communities to the coronavirus and putting us at risk.”
Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) – “I can assure you it won’t be long before we have tens of thousands of people showing up to our border, and it’ll be catastrophic for [the Democratic] party, for our country, for my region, for my district…”
Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) statement – “Whatever message was sent — it was sure interpreted the wrong way. It’s a crisis — oh, it’s a crisis.”
Congressman Guest went on to reference the bipartisan efforts of Republicans and Democrats to address the 2019 border crisis.
“In the summer of 2019, both Republicans and Democrats came together. They recognized what they were seeing — the surge across our border — was an immigration crisis and it was a humanitarian crisis,” Guest said. “We saw President Trump put forth policies that almost immediately began to address the overcrowding that we saw across our southwest border. I will tell you that it’s time that this administration does the same thing. In less than 60 days, they have completely destroyed what was a successful policy and rolled back those successful policies by the Trump Administration.”
In closing, Guest said that the Biden Administration should follow the “Pottery Barn rule,” suggesting that because the Biden Administration has broken our immigration system, they are responsible for it.
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Release from Congressman Michael Guest.
Magnolia Tribune
