Sen. Graham, Rep. Cuellar Make A Bipartisan Plea For A New Border Czar Appointment

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Jul 30, 2021

Both Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Henry Cuellar have asked President Joe Biden, along with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to appoint someone to a position that will ensure “sufficient federal resources” are allocated to help put an end to the crisis at the southern border.

The pair penned a bipartisan letter on Friday “with a sense of urgency” Friday, where they stated that the current surge of migrants crossing the border illegally, along with the increasing threat posed by the COVID-19 Delta variant, U.S. border communities are overburdened and require federal help.

“We request that you immediately create a special executive position vested with the authority to implement federal policies which prioritize the health and safety of U.S. communities at the southern border,” Graham and Cuellar went on to say in the letter.

via Newsmax:

The two lawmakers suggested former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson for the recommended position.

“[Johnson] carries an exceptional bipartisan reputation for pragmatic approaches to complex border security and immigration challenges,” the letter said.

“In 2014, he coordinated a thoughtful U.S. response to a migration influx event and prioritized certain eligible cases for immediate removal. He also established innovative public health protocols which minimized risks to Americans from foreign travelers during the largest Ebola epidemic in history,” it went on to say.

“We strongly support the appointment of someone with the unique credentials of former Secretary Johnson to this position,” it added.

Appointed by former President Barack Obama, Johnson served as DHS secretary from Dec. 23, 2013 to Jan. 20, 2017, when President Donald Trump took office.

The letter by Graham and Cuellar said that DHS facilities and personnel are “overwhelmed” by a border crisis that “is neither seasonal nor temporary.”

Both of these lawmakers then went on to point out the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency recorded 188,829 encounters along the southwestern border in the month of June, which is the highest monthly total in 10 years. That’s an increase of 571 percent year-over-year.

The letter also discussed how Border Patrol agents are “testing positive for COVID-19 at alarming rates.”

“Widespread reports from U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement {“ICE”) have confirmed that they are beyond departmental capacity, requiring the release of approximately 50,000 migrants into U.S. communities without any court order,” Graham and Cuellar then stated.

“The situation on the border will worsen unless we enact policies that will end the surge and fix our broken immigration system,” they said.

The border crisis needs to be dealt with immediately. It’s incredibly frustrating to see Biden and his administration put their own political agenda ahead of doing what is best for the safety, security, and health of the American people.

The refusal by this administration to take action on the border crisis will hopefully come back to the bite them in the backside come 2022.