Some Democrats in the House of Representatives sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday night requesting that more significant action be taken in response to the dispute with Texas at the southern border.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), of which every member is a Democrat, wrote the letter to request that Garland and Mayorkas investigate the State of Texas and the Texas Department of Public Safety for alleged actions taken along the border, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The letter, signed by 22 of the 42 CHC members, refers to border security measures executed by Gov. Greg Abbott as “political stunts” that have “endangered lives and failed to address the root causes of migration or deter migrants from trying to cross the border into Texas.”
“Although we are encouraged by certain steps the Biden Administration has recently undertaken to counter Texas’ unlawful actions and policies, we urgently call on the Administration to explore what further decisive and comprehensive actions it can take to address this alarming situation,” wrote the CHC members, per The Dallas Morning News.
Amid record-high levels of unlawful migration, the stakes were raised when the Texas National Guard (TNG) seized Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, largely barring Border Patrol from accessing the area, a move that has led to contention between Texas and the federal governments.
The CHC members referenced the drowning of three unlawful migrants in the Rio Grande on January 12. The drownings got a lot of media attention after claims were made alleging TNG blocked Border Patrol agents from assisting the imperiled individuals. However, TNG was purportedly not made aware of the situation until the migrants had already drowned, according to a court filing.
“This is the latest in a long line of deeply troubling incidents revealing the state’s indifference to people’s life and safety,” reads the letter, per The Dallas Morning News.
President Joe Biden has claimed multiple times that he is prepared to “shut down the border” if Congress passes his suggested border security bill; however, this bill would do little to solve the ongoing unlawful migration crisis since it still would allow more than 150,000 unlawful migrants to cross into the United States each month, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Similarly, the bill would allow for more than 3.1 million yearly encounters between unlawful migrants and Border Patrol at the border before a border shutdown, which is higher than the roughly 2.5 million encounters logged during fiscal year 2023.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has already spoken out against the bill, saying Biden should instead “take executive action immediately to reverse the catastrophe he has created.”
“President Biden can begin to secure the border by ending catch-and-release, ceasing exploitation of parole authority, reinstating the Remain in Mexico program, expanding the use of expedited removal authority, and renewing construction of the border wall,” said Johnson in a statement posted on social media.
“The President must start by using the broad legal authority he already possesses to reclaim our nation’s sovereignty and end the mass release of illegal aliens into our country.”
