Former Chief U.S. Border Patrol tells Congress Biden-Harris barred him from talking about arrests
Also: 158 Democrats vote against the "Violence Against Women By Illegal Aliens Act."
The House Homeland Security Committee (HSC) held a hearing on Sept. 18. The hearing was titled, “A Country Without Borders: How the Biden-Harris Open Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security," and can be viewed on YouTube.
The hearing focused on "Significant Interest Aliens (SIAs)," which are illegal aliens crossing U.S. borders who have ties to terrorism or in some way pose a national security threat.
Former Chief U.S. Border Patrol for San Diego Aaron Heitke gave significant testimony, alleging the Biden-Harris administration purposely covered up the southern border crisis.
Heitke told the HSC that the Biden-Harris administration barred him from talking to the media about what his sector was encountering with regard to SIAs.
"At the time, I was told I could not release any information on this increase on SIAs or mention any of the arrests," Heitke told the HSC. "The administration was trying to convince the public there was no threat at the border."
Heitke said San Diego agents apprehended 10 to 15 SIAs per year under the Trump administration. Under Biden-Harris the number shot up to 100 in 2022 and increased beyond that in 2023.
The hearing coincided with HSC releasing a "comprehensive report" on the Biden-Harris border crisis.
"As a result of their actions, well over 10.3 million inadmissible aliens have entered the United States since Jan. 20, 2021, an increase of more than 200 percent from the previous administration," the press release for the report states. "Combined, the Biden-Harris administration has released or allowed into the interior more than 7 million inadmissible aliens–well over 5 million releases and roughly 2 million known gotaways, most never to be removed."
The report itself is 82 pages outlining every aspect of the border crisis from fentanyl trafficking and deaths to the Biden-Harris administration's "vast NGO network."
According to the report, the administration engaged in a "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law." It also alleges Biden and Harris intentionally flooded ports of entry with illegal aliens via the CBP One app and imported inadmissible foreign nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaraga, and Venezuela, known as CHNV) nationals, through a parole program.
A second HSC hearing was held on Sept. 19, titled, “Beyond the Border: Terrorism and Homeland Security Consequences of Illegal Immigration.” That hearing video can be accessed here.
More To The Story
Meanwhile on Sept. 18, the House passed an act aimed at deporting illegal aliens who commit sexual assault crimes.
H.R. 7909 is the "Violence Against Women By Illegal Aliens Act," which closes loopholes in current U.S. law that had kept illegal aliens who commit sex offenses or acts of domestic violence from being deported.
158 House Democrats voted against it on Sept. 18.
51 Democrats did vote for the measure, the majority of which are in vulnerable districts or who are running for reelection or another office.
North Carolina Democrats voting against it included Alma Adams, Valerie Foushee, and Deborah Ross.
North Carolina Democrats voting yes included NC-01's Don Davis, considered one of the most vulnerable seats this cycle, as well as Jeff Jackson, who is running for NC attorney general. Kathy Manning (NC-06) and Wiley Nickel (NC-13) also voted yes.
Both Manning and Nickel declined to run for reelection this year following map redistricting changes.
The vote passed and comes amid new details of massive numbers of illegal aliens being paroled into the U.S. interior by the Biden-Harris administration.
FOX News reported on the Biden-Harris administration's use of "humanitarian parole programs" to manage migration at the southern U.S. border.
There are two main programs: the CBP One app for scheduling appointments at ports of entry, and parole processes for CHNV nationals. These are the type of individuals flooding small towns across the country like Springfield, Ohio.
The administration claims these programs have led to a "significant decrease" in border encounters, but Republicans argue the use of parole is unlawful and there are concerns about fraud in the program and crimes allegedly committed by some paroled migrants.
The report also mentions that Mexico released a video showing people being bused to the U.S. border using the CBP One appointment app.
The program was briefly suspended in July due to fraud discoveries but resumed with new safeguards, but was restarted.
From the looks of it, the program was restarted to make Biden-Harris' border crossing numbers look better as evidenced by NBC News reporting, “The Biden administration has been eager to restart the program because it believes allowing migrants to apply legally has contributed to the sharp drop in illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S."
Key CHNV data points:
1. Approximately 1.3 million migrants have been allowed into the U.S. via Biden-Harris programs.
2. Up to 1,450 migrants can enter daily using the CBP One app.
3. The CHNV program allows up to 30,000 migrants per month.
4. Nearly 530,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were granted parole through August 2024.
5. Approximately 813,000 individuals have scheduled appointments using the CBP One app.
6. In August 2023, there were 44,700 appointments made through CBP One.
7. Border encounters decreased from 232,963 in August 2022 to 107,503 in August 2023.
8. 12-15,000 Haitian migrants have moved to Springfield, Ohio (population 60,000) in recent years.
In April of this year, the House Homeland Security Committee released documents showing at least 50 U.S. airports CHNV nationals were being flown to. The vast majority were arriving in Miami (91,821) and Fort Lauderdale (60,461), Florida.
Both the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham airports were also on the list.
The Committee also found in a DHS subpoena response there were about 1.6 million applicants waiting for DHS approval to fly to the U.S. via the parole program as of October 2023.
Bonus Clip:
NC Congressman and candidate for NC attorney general Dan Bishop (R-NC-08) got into it with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the border crisis.