Senator Cornyn

Cornyn Recaps Border Visit, Calls on Biden to Enforce the Law

March 6, 2023

On Friday, we spoke with local, state, and federal law enforcement about the far-reaching security impact of this broken border.

The current state of affairs is unsustainable, but President Biden continues to promote the false narrative that only Congress can fix this border crisis.

We don't need to completely rewrite our immigration laws in order to fix the humanitarian and security crisis at the border. President Biden needs to do what other administrations have done: enforce the laws already on the books.

WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) called on President Biden to enforce the nation’s existing immigration laws and recapped his recent trip to McAllen, Texas with Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE). Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“On Friday, we spoke with local, state, and federal law enforcement about the far-reaching security impact of this broken border. The fentanyl that comes across the border doesn’t stay in border communities. It moves to cities and towns across the country.”

“The current state of affairs is unsustainable, but President Biden continues to promote the false narrative that only Congress can fix this border crisis.”

“During President Biden’s first two years in office, Customs and Border Protection encountered nearly 4.7 million migrants at the southern border, an absolutely unprecedented and astonishing figure. But during the first two years of the Trump administration, the agency reported fewer than 950,000 encounters.”

“We don’t need to completely rewrite our immigration laws in order to fix the humanitarian and security crisis at the border. President Biden needs to do what other administrations have done: enforce the laws already on the books. The administration needs to get serious about things like expedited removals and ensure that those with invalid asylum claims are quickly removed from the United States.”

“I’m not suggesting Congress should just sit on the sidelines. We have an important role to play, too. For one thing, there’s obviously a need to improve border security.” 

“Law enforcement told us in no uncertain terms that they need additional resources, and providing those resources should be a top priority. But Congress also needs to address the glaring problems with our asylum system that are being exploited massively.”

“I appreciate my colleagues coming to Texas to visit our southern border, the ones that did last week and the many others who have joined recently on a bipartisan basis. I think it’s important for every Senator to see what’s happening.”  

“The Biden administration has tools at its disposal to address this crisis without any action from Congress, and it’s time to put those to use.”