Last week I spent three days at the US-Mexico border near Yuma, Arizona. Having visited the southern border twice before, I have seen first-hand the detrimental impact of the current non-existent border policy on law enforcement and border guards. , and the entire local community. It was heartbreaking to hear from local officials how the failure of the Biden administration’s illegal immigration policy wreaked havoc not only in Virginia’s District 6 and every community across the country, but Yuma. Unfortunately, like the president, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee were not present, calling our visit a “political stunt.” Had they been there, they would have witnessed the building of the border wall, the gap, and heard about the strain the crisis is placing on health care, food supplies and law enforcement. In addition, the commission held public hearings to listen to the concerns of officials on the ground and their thoughts on current border policy and how it could be modified. It was a meaningful time. I regret that my Democratic colleagues have chosen not to participate.
Finishing the Wall: San Luis Port at the Entrance to the Morelos Dam
No matter which sector of the border you visit, the constant message you hear from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials is that the wall works. Unfortunately, on his first day in office, President Biden halted construction of the wall, sparking a historic influx of illegal immigrants. So our first stop was the Cocopa Indian Reservation in San Luis, Arizona for an overnight tour to the Morelos Dam Sector on the border. We were plagued by gaps in the walls and were told by authorities that urgent funding was needed to plug not just the holes in the physical fence, but the holes in the broken system overrun by illegals. The numbers are even worse when you’re in the field and experience first-hand. The Yuma area alone had his 100,000 border encounters in Biden’s first year in office and his 300,000 last year, compared with his 8,000 last year in the Trump administration. Overall, in the Southwestern Borderlands so far he has had 874,449 transits in FY2023, especially in Arizona he has had 571,482 transits in FY2022 and 185,885 in this year. bottom. And Arizona’s problem became Virginia’s problem, and Virginia is home to nearly 270,000 reported illegal immigrants, about one-third of the population of the entire 6th District. increase. The border is completely overrun. In fact, more than 200 immigrants illegally crossed the section as we left for the night.
Yuma Hospital
On the second day of our visit, we met with Yuma Hospital staff to hear stories highlighting the enormous economic burden they face with the flood of illegal immigrants across the border into the hospital. The hospital’s CEO stressed the strain this crisis is placing on the health system, saying that as the hospital reached maximum capacity due to immigration, there weren’t enough beds to care for Yuma’s residents. Hospitals spend more than $20 million to treat illegal immigrants, and Virginia’s health care system faces similar financial strain. According to the Virginia Department of Health, fatal opioid overdoses increased by about 260% over the past decade, from 2011 to 2021, and by 2020, three-quarters of his overdoses were due to fentanyl. was the cause. In 2021, overdoses in Virginia will rise 15% from 2020, with synthetic fentanyl responsible for her 2,033 deaths. The simple fact is that Americans’ health is undermined by Biden’s border crisis – and it needs to stop.
T.Law Enforcement Burden
We must provide those on the front lines with everything they need to optimally handle cross-border inflows. Law enforcement officers throughout Arizona’s surrounding communities told us that the border crisis is straining their resources at a time when the protection and services of their citizens are of the utmost importance. I remembered this horror near Just south of us, we found a fentanyl trafficker in Abingdon distributing his 30,000 “compressed” fentanyl pills. In West Virginia, Morgantown police officers seized a “mass” of rainbow-colored fentanyl pills targeting children. Sheriffs talked about the dangers of cartels smuggling fentanyl and illegal drugs into the nation, confirming what we all knew. This crisis was created for an open border policy and a comprehensive amnesty.
Feedback from the most affected people
Democrats on the committee and Biden administration officials would have benefited from the hearings in Yuma. Here’s what we learned: Yuma County Superintendent Jonathan Lines testified that he received new figures showing that 48% of fentanyl seized at the southern border was smuggled between ports of entry, with the remainder seized at ports of entry. Dr. Robert Trenschel, president and chief executive of Yuma Regional Medical Center (Yuma’s only hospital), said American citizens had to prioritize illegal immigrants, who had more serious health problems. He testified that he had to wait longer for treatment. The audience was well aware of that fact. Additionally, Dr. Trenschel said U.S. citizens whose babies needed to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit had to be sent to Phoenix (more than 170 miles away) because the influx of immigrant mothers had overwhelmed Yuma’s NICU. The pressure on the Sixth District is real, whether it’s a surge in illegal immigration heading northeast from the southern border or the impact of the open border and amnesty policies of the Biden administration in Washington. Rest assured, I am doing everything in my power to slow the tide of this crisis and restore the rule of law on our borders.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as an MP. If my office can help, please contact our Washington office at (202) 225-5431. Follow me for updates throughout Washington and the Sixth District. Facebook and twitter page.
