The House Committee on Homeland Security is using its first hearing to show how cartels carry drugs through the border region, setting up a fight with Democrats who are determined to downplay the civic damage caused by illegal migration and the drug cartels.
“This is killing Americans – we must reestablish control of our southern border,” said chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-TN). “We must establish control of our southern border.”
“This hearing should be a wake-up call… our colleagues across the aisle must recognize the [nationwide] humanitarian tragedy,” Green added.
One of the witnesses testified about the loss of her two sons to fentanyl hidden in Percocet pills. “You welcoming drug dealers coming across the border … You’re not protecting our children,” Rebecca Kiessling, Rochester Hills, Michigan.
Another witness described how his hospital was forced to provide $26 million in free healthcare in one year to a wide variety of ill migrants.
The federal government’s failure to curb the inflow of drugs contributes to the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans each year.
In response, Democrats defend the loose border policies overseen by the nation’s pro-migration homeland secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.
Those policies have provided businesses with millions of imported cheap workers, renters, and consumers, have minimized diplomatic pressure on Mexico to curb cartels, and also have diverted border resources toward the task of welcoming economic migrants.
Democrats also tout a GOP member of the committee, Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX), because of his opposition to a GOP border-reform bill.
Both Republicans and Democrats try to downplay the economic purposes and impact of migration on American society.
The Democrats’ witness for the hearing is David Bier, a pro-migration advocate from Cato Institute.
The hearing, titled “Every State is a Border State: Examining Secretary Mayorkas’ Border Crisis,” can be watched here:
Full Committee Hearing: “Every State is a Border State: Examining Secretary Mayorkas’ Border Crisis”