House Republicans on Tuesday again took up the US immigration issue after going to see the Biden administration’s border patrol agency in person.

The House Homeland Security Committee, now under Republican control, held its first full hearing on immigration since President Joe Biden took office. The commission spoke from various witnesses, including a mother who lost her two sons to an opioid overdose and an Arizona hospital executive who spoke of the level of unpaid care offered to illegal immigrants. I heard

Ahead of the hearing, Chairman Mark Greene told ABC News, “We’re going to show the human cost to all Americans. We’re going to show the economic cost. We’re going to show the cost of crime.” I’m going to show you.”

Last week, Green led members to the Mexican border to meet with local officials and observe U.S. Customs and Border Protection activities.

“It’s been eye-opening,” he said, adding that he had heard extensively from border officials about the diversionary tactics used by criminal smuggling rings.

Much of Tuesday’s hearing focused on the heated debate between the Biden administration’s border policies and illegal drug smuggling. It was a moment that rocked the

Michigan attorney Rebecca Kiesling explained how she believes her sons are taking the pain reliever Percocet. In fact, the pills they got from drug dealers contained lethal doses of fentanyl.Her sons, aged 18 and her 20, died in 2020. bottom.

“You’re talking about children being taken away from their parents,” said Kiesling, almost overwhelmed as he recounted the deaths of his sons. … This should not be politicized.”

Kiesling believes the fentanyl her sons ingested was illegally smuggled across the southern border.

But the Republican attempt to link illegal drug smuggling with immigrants entering the country is less clear-cut. The majority of drugs are seized from the hands of U.S. citizens at legal ports of entry, despite record concerns of unauthorized border crossers in more remote areas.

Customs agents seize 80 to 90 percent of all types of drugs illegally brought into the United States, except marijuana, yet as many as 77 percent of federal drug trafficking convictions are by U.S. citizens, according to the Cato Institute. Thing.

“The commission is right to investigate the fentanyl death scourge,” David Beer, deputy director of immigration studies at the Cait Institute, a libertarian think tank, said in testimony at the hearing. “But it’s not because of immigration.”

Beale instead advocated for stronger, health-care-focused solutions for illicit drug consumers, including legalizing drug-testing products.

“I don’t think fentanyl smuggling and ports of entry are the solution,” he said. “After all, the black market supplies drugs to paying US consumers.”

Republicans have also welcomed and ridiculed the increase in drug seizures by U.S. authorities, sometimes suggesting that it reflects how border trafficking is getting worse.

However, as authorities increase their ability to seize drugs (which Democrats support), the number of drugs seized often increases, though the level at which smuggling goes undetected is still unclear.

At one point during the hearing, Beale was involved in a heated exchange with Republican Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina. After seeking assurances that legal forms of immigration would be less susceptible to criminal activity, Bishop repeatedly cut off a witness, accusing him of starting a “filibuster” in his response.

“Well, we do have legal immigration from Mexico and Central America,” Bia began to answer.

“Why aren’t you answering my question as to why they keep charging you?”

“You asked me a question. You attacked me,” Beer retorted before the chairman ordered the commission.

“Let me answer my question,” said Bishop.

“We’ve been through this already,” Biel replied. “We have a legal immigration system, which is very unusual and constrained. We do not have a year-round foreign worker program –”

“I’m not talking about the guest worker program. I don’t want to answer, that’s fine.”

“It’s legal immigration,” said Beale.

After working to roll back many of its hardline immigration policies during the presidency of former President Donald Trump, the Biden administration has allowed legal and humane travel to the United States while maintaining other restrictions, including asylum. recently enacted a policy designed to encourage

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas said in House testimony last year, “Under this administration, our department has implemented a comprehensive strategy to secure our borders and rebuild our immigration system. “We inherited a broken and dismantled system that was already straining,” he claimed at the time.

Over the past two months, the Biden administration has begun cracking down on asylum applications, angering immigration advocates, while stepping up efforts to more quickly deport or deport migrants illegally crossing the southern border. Did.

At the same time, the administration has provided new, but narrow, avenues for immigrants to obtain temporary status in the United States that allows them to seek humanitarian protection.

In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said, “Rather than trying to score political points by denouncing Congress, we are taking a broken “We have to work on a legislative solution to the immigration system.” .

Biden officials have argued a dual-track approach is essential to deter frivolous asylum calls to the United States while leaving options for those fleeing violence and persecution, especially in Latin America. .

Policy change is the latest target of Republicans who have repeatedly challenged the administration in lawsuits over immigration movements. Last month, 20 states with Republican attorneys general sued to suspend some of the Biden administration’s latest immigration policies.

Republican critics often point out, as Beer appeared on Tuesday, that the vast majority of smuggled drugs are traded through legal ports of entry. The surge in unauthorized migration is another matter, they say.

Greene told ABC News ahead of the hearing that criminal gangs are engaging in diversionary tactics that are forcing officials who would otherwise try to stop smuggling to turn their attention to stopping immigration. said.

However, the U.S. Border Patrol is a separate federal agency that guards vast tracts of land between official border crossings. And while the Department of Homeland Security has at times surged resources from elsewhere to deal with high numbers of immigrants, Democrats have invested in record new resources for border patrol staffing and ports of entry. We also offer funding.

Congress has been repeatedly thwarted by passing bipartisan immigration laws, given sharp policy differences on the issue, mostly among Republicans.