Border Crisis: 25 governors send letter to Biden
Illegal border crossings have surged past already historic levels recorded a year ago
On Sept. 19, 25 Republican Governors, led by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, sent a letter to President Joe Biden describing how the crisis at the Southern border is impacting every state.
Per a press release from the Republican Governor’s Association, the letter requests Biden to “immediately relay accurate, detailed, and thorough data to the states about who is crossing the Southern border illegally, where they are relocating, how the federal government is processing their asylum applications, and whether they are being deported.”
“Your administration can no longer ignore simple facts that threaten our citizens’ public safety and strain their public resources, the governors wrote. “Since you have taken office, there have been over 5.8 million illegal crossings at the southern border. In addition, your Customs and Border Protection agency estimates 1.6 million crossers have evaded apprehension.”
The letter goes on to say that even illegal crossings at the northern border have “increased exponentially” under Biden, increasing in some areas by “nearly 850%.”
The governors also expressed concern that in the last two years 244 people on the terrorist watchlist were stopped attempting to cross the U.S. southern border, “an all-time record.”
“Absent transparency from your administration, though, we cannot know how many terrorists have evaded capture and are now freely moving about the country,” the letter to Biden says.
The letter notes Biden officials have admitted under oath that they know drug cartels are exploiting the president’s open border and those cartels “exploit it daily for human and narcotics trafficking.”
The letter goes on to cite NYC Mayor Adams, a Democrat, whose state has seen a surge of over 100,000 illegal migrants in the last year, stating that this issue is not just about NYC, it’s “a national problem.” Additionally, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy declared a state of emergency over the illegal migrant surge in her state and called the Biden administration’s border policies “a federal crisis of inaction.”
“As we have made clear repeatedly, every state is now a border state,” the governor’s letter says in its closing paragraphs.
Read the full letter from the governors here.
The letter does not reference the recent news that Chicago had inked a $30 million contract to set up what essentially will be a giant tent city for illegal migrants that have overwhelmed the city. Perks included for the tent city include free childcare, transportation, three meals a day, and more.
More To The Story
The letter from the Republican governors was sent amid news from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) that August border crossing numbers were the highest in U.S. history for the month of August, coming in at 232,972.
For the 2023 Fiscal Year to Date, a record 2,388,350 illegal crossings have happened, with a whole month left until the end of the fiscal year in October. Last fiscal year, crossings hit 2,378,944.
The day after the letter from the Republican governors went out, FOX News’ Bill Melugin reported that it was a “total free for all” at the Eagle Pass crossing location.
Melugin’s post on X included videos of the crossings and huge groups of individuals, which, from the footage appear to be mostly males.
As reported by the NY Post, a “jaw-dropping” 3.8 million illegal migrants have entered the country since Biden took office in January 2021, and “nearly half” of them were “got-aways,” meaning they snuck in and were never caught.
What the NY Post article doesn’t dig into are the violent crimes committed by illegal migrants which are dealt with by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
A few examples of ICE news:
SEPT 13- Salt Lake City, Utah - 208 previously deported violent criminals were referred for federal prosecution, and include “foreign nationals who have been previously removed from the United States and have three or more misdemeanors or a felony conviction, or a previous removal with an aggravated felony conviction, which include murder, rape, fraud or sexual abuse of a minor. Those cases amenable to federal criminal prosecution for immigration offenses may be presented to the U.S. attorney's office.”
SEPT. 8, Chicago, IL - ERO Chicago announced apprehending 33 removable noncitizens determined to be a threat to national security, public safety or border security during a nationwide enforcement operation from Aug. 4 to Aug. 25.
SEPT 8, San Antonio, TX - ICE and ERO San Antonio announced the arrest of 13 noncitizens during a national operation that ran from Aug. 4 to Aug. 25.
Other announcements between Sept.2-8 include 18 in Newark, NJ; 14 in Phoenix, 11 in Seattle; 7 in Housto; 19 in San Francisco; and yet another 15 in Salt Lake City announced on Sept. 1.
All of the ICE announcements refer at some point to some sobering statistics from the agency's 2022 annual report. For example, the Sept. 13 Salt Lake City action includes this section:
In fiscal year 2022, ERO arrested 46,396 noncitizens with criminal histories. This group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions, including 21,531 assault offenses; 8,164 sex and sexual assault offenses; 5,554 weapons offenses; 1,501 homicide-related offenses; and 1,114 kidnapping offenses.
These stats are also combined with more details on investigations in a historical graphic within the annual report (below).
Another disturbing nugget from the 2022 Annual report:
Removals of noncitizens with known or suspected ties to terrorism increased significantly from FY 2021 to FY 2022.
How significant was that increase? Check out the Annual Report’s graphic:
There was almost a 67% jump between FY 2021 and 2022.
It’s an over 80% increase when comparing 2020 to 2022.
The combined total for the years 2021 and 2022 per ICE’s stats is 90.
Keep in mind that the federal fiscal year runs from October-October.
Also, keep in mind that the Republican governors’ letter cited “244” known terrorists caught crossing the border since Biden took office in January 2021.
This data paints a picture of a new (and terrifying) historic increase coming at the end of FY 2023 of terrorists making their way into the U.S.
For those who want to explore the Annual Report a bit deeper, here are links to access the information:
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