WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Senator Thom Tillis delivered remarks on the Senate floor to highlight the serious national security and humanitarian crises at our Southern border and the need for Democrats to work across the aisle and prioritize policies to secure our southern border. The speech comes as nearly 8 million individuals have illegally crossed our Southern border since President Biden assumed office including individuals on the terrorism watchlist.
Watch the speech HERE.
Senator Tillis on Increased Border Crossings:
“The situation at the border has simply gotten out of control. I think it bears repeating. It's been said by some of the folks who spoke before we're talking about a fourfold increase. Donald Trump was president for four years. President Biden has been president for three years. And in three years, we have nearly four times the crossings that we did in the Trump Administration.”
Senator Tillis on Losing Control of the Border:
“We've lost operational control of the border. We don't have situational awareness at the border. Let me explain what that means when you have 1.5 million people that we know came into this country illegally. They paid money to a cartel five to fifty thousand dollars, depending upon what country they came from, to get in this country illegally. But some of them specifically want to go through a sector that the cartels specialize in, making sure that you never have to encounter a border agent. They're called got-aways. Over the last three years, 1.5 million got-aways have entered this country.”
Senator Tillis on Support for Border Security:
“The American people now a majority; we're not talking a plurality; we're talking about a majority of the American people, Democrats, Independents, Republicans, agree that we have a major problem or crisis at the border. Biden needs to fix this problem. Biden needs to fix this problem for Senators that are running for re-election. This is not a situation where it's just Republicans saying we want a secure border. We always do and we always will. This is now the American people in the electorate saying that we need to fix it. So, when we get into negotiations, of course, we've got to change asylum policy. And, of course, we've got to change parole policy. And, of course, that's going to make some Democrats get out of their comfort zone.”
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