Carl: Crisis on the border

President Biden’s immigration policies have created a crisis on the border he can no longer afford to ignore. Despite his administration’s unwillingness to recognize the situation on the border as a serious humanitarian crisis, federal authorities have struggled to control this situation as a massive surge of migrants attempt to enter the U.S. illegally. Just last month, over 100,000 migrants attempted to cross the border, which is more than three times the number of attempts one year prior.

President Biden needs to realize his campaign promises and actions since taking office have created a crisis on the border which compromises the safety of law-abiding Americans. On the campaign trail, President Biden promised to ease immigration controls and put a moratorium on deportations, signaling to asylum-seekers the likelihood of gaining entry to the United States. He has further exacerbated the problem with his proposed immigration bill offering asylum and a pathway to citizenship to most of the illegal immigrants who are already in the United States.

The crisis on our border will continue growing if President Biden does not get serious and change his course of action. During his first days in office, he chose to no longer enforce a Trump-era rule applying Title 42 of the Public Health Safety Act to minors, which allowed the temporary suspension of entry of a person “when doing so is required in the interest of public health.” He also ended the Remain in Mexico policy requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting trial. These two decisions have contributed greatly to the massive influx of asylum seekers and the inhumane overcrowding at detention facilities.

A recent CBS report shows Border Patrol is currently dealing with a backlog of more than 4,000 unaccompanied minors, with more than 3,200 already having been held longer than the legal limit. One Customs and Border Patrol facility in Texas is now at 729% capacity and continues growing. This is unacceptable. Just this past weekend, the White House was forced to dispatch the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist with the ever-growing surge across the border.

President Biden’s reckless immigration policies and his failure to enforce our many immigration laws have created an unprecedented crisis at our border. We are a nation of law and order, and we must have a strong border to protect the health, safety and security of the American citizens. It’s more important now than ever to secure the border and fix the Biden Border Crisis before it gets even further out of hand.

Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.