Bill targets comprehensive southern border strategy

A Republican group of senators recently introduced a bill requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary to complete a comprehensive southern border strategy within 12 months of enactment.

U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and James Inhofe (R-OK) recently detailed the Comprehensive Southern Border Strategy Act (S. 4642) while outlining the strategy must address the manner of maintaining southern border operational control and situational awareness.

“The Biden Administration has proven time and time again that they have no strategy for gaining control of our southern border, and it’s time they start showing some leadership and accountability,” Tillis said. “The situation at our border is undeniably a crisis as the cartels continue their human trafficking and their smuggling of illicit drugs like fentanyl into our country.”

Tillis said the bill ensures DHS enacts a plan by deploying every available resource.

Combatting human smuggling and drug trafficking would also be a part of the strategy.

“The Biden Administration has facilitated the complete collapse of our southern border and precipitated a crisis beyond measure,” Hagerty said. “My colleagues and I are imploring the Biden Administration to stop burying its head in the sand and do its job by prioritizing the safety and security of the American people and putting an end to the disaster they have created.”

During fiscal year 2022 (FY22), U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 8,000 criminal aliens while interdicting more than 10,700 pounds of fentanyl last year.