House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) gave a thumbs-up during the panel’s second hearing Feb. 23 from Yuma, Arizona, over what lawmakers dubbed the “Biden Border Crisis.” .
Republicans have long opposed President Joe Biden’s policies on the U.S.-Mexico border, where illegal immigration rates have reached unprecedented levels.
The border is a key area for Mexican drug cartels and their partners, who stand to make huge profits from moving drugs and sex slaves into the U.S. market.
Americans living along the border have spoken in numerous interviews of the threats they face every day.Citizen encounters with drug runners and cartel affiliates are common along the border is.
Instead of holding hearings on Capitol Hill, Republicans convened in Yuma, Arizona, just east of the California border and a few miles north of the Mexican border. Notably, half of the Judiciary Commission has gone missing. Democrats on the committee announced in advance that they would not attend the Yuma hearings.
During the hearings, several Republicans explained that they were holding hearings in border cities to hear from people living in the “ground zero” of the immigration crisis.
In his opening remarks, Jordan denounced the Democrats’ absence as a “political stunt.”
“The Democratic Party’s open-border policy caused this crisis. Instead of choosing to fix it, they want to cause a stunt and play a political game.
Rep. Tom McClintock (California Republican) was also critical of the absence.
“During Congress’ last session, Democrats couldn’t be bothered to hold a single hearing on the issue,” McClintock said. I didn’t feel like going out of my way to attend.”
threat to civilization
During the hearings, critics of Biden’s border policy painted chaos at the border as an existential part of American civilization.
McClintock, the Republican’s first witness, called “unprecedented illegal mass immigration [is] No civilization in history has survived on a scale never before experienced. ”
McClintock put the blame for this threat squarely on Biden’s policies.
Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. practiced a “stay in Mexico” policy, in which illegal immigrants arrested at the border were detained inside Mexico until their asylum applications were evaluated. Overturned.
The government’s de facto policy, though not legislated, is “catch and release,” in which illegal immigrants arrested by Border Patrol agents are released to the U.S. to await a day in court. .
McClintock cited figures showing that at least 3.1 million people — about one-tenth of the total US population — entered the country illegally under the Biden administration.
“3.1 million is [the population of] All over Arkansas,” McClintock stressed. “That was the last 25 months.”
McClintock said the mass influx of illegal immigrants was the result of Washington’s “prudent and calculated” policies.
Declining quality of healthcare for Americans
During the hearing, Dr. Robert Trenschel, president and CEO of the Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC), testified to the commission about the impact that large numbers of illegal immigrants have had on the quality of health care Americans in Yuma receive.
“Our hospital has seen an increase in the number of migrants seeking treatment since late autumn. [and] Early winter 2021,” reports Trenschel.
He said Yuma Regional Medical Center is one of only two major hospitals in the relatively remote border town area.
“It’s not transferable to another medical facility,” Trenschel explained.
Additionally, Trenschel said the burden of seeking care at another facility is insurmountable for Americans living in the area.
According to US Census Bureau data, Yuma’s poverty rate is 17.6%, a few percentage points higher than the national poverty rate of 11.6%.
“For many people who live here, leaving town for care is simply an intolerable challenge,” Trenshell said. “They depend on us being here.”
So, whether it’s a minor illness or a more serious problem, Trenschel said the rise in illegal immigration will strain hospital resources, leading to fewer resources for legitimate citizens. .
hospital submits bill
These illegal immigrants may require costly and labor-intensive medical procedures, Trenshell said, resulting in fewer doctors and equipment available to American residents in the area. Hospitals have to bear many of these costs.
“We have immigrants who need dialysis, cardiac catheterization, and heart surgery,” he said.
Undocumented immigrant babies may require extended stays in neonatal intensive care units. It’s a costly level of care that’s a big shift for taxpayers, health insurers, and an already strained Medicare system.
In addition, Trenschel noted “the cultural and linguistic concerns of immigrant patients.”
He said hospitals can “get over them” individually, but the cumulative effect of these language and cultural barriers increases the strain on hospital personnel.
Giving a specific example of the strain on resources, Trenschel said illegal immigrants often require three times as many HR workers to fire.
YRMC will also pay for transferring illegal immigrants to other hospitals if the situation is dire enough to warrant it.
Cumulative impact of these costs: Between December 2021 and December 2022, YRMC incurred $26 million in costs for illegal immigration care.
“I assure you, this number is not an estimate,” says Trenschel.
He added that “$26 million in free care is not a sustainable business model.”
In a follow-up question, Trenchell confirmed a question by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona) that Biden’s immigration policy requires hospitals to pay for the transfer of illegal immigrants to other facilities. bottom.
Efforts to impeach Mallorcas
While Republicans hold Biden’s policies ultimately responsible for the influx of illegal immigrants, they also place much of the blame on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas.
On February 1st, Biggs submitted a revised version. articles of impeachment He opposed Majorcas and called for his dismissal. Unlike the last Congress, Biggs said he expects this Congress to pick up the story.
“Alejandro Nicolas Mallorcas engaged in a pattern of behavior inconsistent with his duties as an officer of the United States during his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security,” Biggs said in the resolution.
Specifically, Biggs cited Mayorkas’ track record in overseeing border security.
Majorcas “failed to live up to his oath, and instead presided over a reckless abandonment of border security and immigration law enforcement at the expense of the Constitution and the security of the United States,” Biggs wrote.
Specifically, Biggs says: state.
Biggs noted that in 2022 alone, enough fentanyl flowed into the United States to “kill every American more than 10 times” due to the loss of operational control at the border. It looks like criminals are trying to import even more fentanyl across the border this year.
“In addition to the increase in the number of illegal immigrants, Mayorcas’ policies have led to a significant increase in illegal drug trafficking across borders in the South,” he wrote. , more lethal doses of fentanyl seized at borders than ever recorded in any year: £14,700 seized at borders in fiscal 2022 is enough to kill all Americans 10 times more .
“As a result, fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for people ages 18 to 45, and opioid deaths are at a record high across the country.”
On February 8, Biggs held an event calling for the impeachment of Mallorcas.
Mayorkas is also facing allegations of lying to and misleading members of parliament. this is a crime.
“Secretary Majorcas definitely needs to be impeached,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R) said during the event.
One of the panelists, Mark Morgan of the Heritage Foundation, agreed, calling Mayorcas a “key architect” of the administration’s border policy.
However, it remains unclear how House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R, CA) will handle the articles of impeachment against Majorcas.
To date, McCarthy has given ambivalent responses to impeaching Biden and the officials he appointed.
In October 2022, before Republicans were expected to take over the House in the midterm elections, McCarthy said, “We don’t do politics with it.”
