Legislation seeks to bolster security efforts at southern border

U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jim Risch (R-ID) recently introduced legislation to bolster southern border security initiatives.

The Solving the Border Crisis Act would resume southern border wall construction, strengthen management and enforcement capacities, and uphold the rule of law.

“The skyrocketing amounts of fentanyl and unlawful migrants coming over our border must stop. The irresponsible and dangerous border policies of this administration are allowing Mexican transnational criminal organizations to traffic record numbers of unlawful migrants and deadly, illicit narcotics into communities in Ohio and throughout the country,” Portman, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said. “That’s why I’m proud to introduce this bill to implement the recommendations from our recent border report to end the catastrophe at our border to ensure the safety and security of all Americans.”

Bill provisions include extending Title 42 until at least 60 days after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, immediate resumption of border wall construction, establishing the “Remain in Mexico” program permanency, and eliminating a Biden administration rule allowing asylum officers to hear asylum claims instead of immigration judges.

“The Biden administration’s dismantling of the effective immigration system it inherited has created a full-blown disaster at the southern border,” Risch, ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said. “The past few months of illegal migrant encounters have broken every record in the book, and there is no end in sight unless we secure our border with strong immigration policies.”