Rep. Fleischmann to Newsmax: 'Country Should Be Worried' About Biden Border Policy The House Appropriations Committee's Homeland Security Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN). (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
By Charles Kim | Saturday, 26 November 2022 02:37 PM EST
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R- Tenn., told Newsmax Saturday that the country "should be worried" about President Joe Biden’s failed policies at the southern border and the incoming GOP House majority plans to use its financial power to address the record 4 million influx of illegal migrants when it takes control in January.
"I think [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas should be worried, the country should be worried," Fleischmann said during an appearance on "Saturday Report."
"The problem starts with Joe Biden and the Biden administration for [the last] two years."
According to Customs and Border Protection data, 1.9 million illegal immigrants entered the country in Fiscal Year 2021 followed by another 2.7 million in Fiscal Year 2022.
Almost 200,000 illegal migrants have entered the country since Oct. 1 when the new Fiscal Year started for 2023, the agency reported.
"For the last two years every attempt on my part as the ranking member of homeland security on appropriations, on the authorizers’ part to secure the border, whether that's with proper funding, proper technology, proper human resources, has been thwarted by Joe Biden," he said. "The calls are coming from the top all the way down. They are failing, the border is porous. It's been porous. It's going to get worse."
He said things will change when the new majority is sworn in.
"At every step, at every turn, Joe Biden has thwarted border security," he said. "It's border security, it’s national security. It's a failure of immigration policy. Don't look for them to change any time soon. House Republicans will change [this] with the power of the purse. I'm an appropriator, and. we're going to make sure that we direct spending in the appropriate way. We're going to have to stand firm now."
Fleischmann said that under former President Donald Trump the border was secure, having a buffer with the "remain in Mexico" policy that made illegal migrants wait in Mexico for their court cases before staying on American soil.
"The buffer in Mexico policy, which was working under President Trump, making sure that illegals who were in those countries had to wait in another country before they could come in," he said. "The Biden administration wants open, porous borders. They think there's a political gain to this. There is not. It is long term problems. It is short term problem. This will cost our country for decades. I just don't know what their endgame is. It's chaotic. It's wrong. It's hurting the national security of this country, and it's got to stop."
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