Wagner, Womack seek policy changes to tackle immigration crisis at southern border

U.S. Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Steve Womack (R-AR) on April 9 called on the Biden administration to institute immediate policy changes to end the crisis at America’s southern border.

“The scenes at the border and especially inside these processing centers were heart-wrenching,” said Rep. Wagner, who joined several of their colleagues in McAllen, Texas, where they assessed the border situation firsthand. “Children sleeping on hard floors, crowded into rooms together without the ability to even go outside. This is what happens when President Biden ignores the experts and cavalierly rescinds immigration policies that were working — he creates a humanitarian crisis at our border.”

Rep. Wagner, Rep. Womack, and members of the congressional delegation visiting the area, including U.S. Reps. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), urged the Biden administration to reinstate effective policies, including the Migrant Protection Protocols with Mexico and the Asylum Cooperation Agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

“This trip has confirmed we have a disaster of unprecedented proportions on our southern border,” Rep. Womack said during a press conference. “President Biden’s open border rhetoric and policies have caused this humanitarian and national security crisis. I implore the President and Vice President Harris to get down here. They need to see the consequences of their actions and stop the madness.”  

During their trip, the representatives discussed challenges with border patrol agents and participated in a ride-along tour with the National Border Patrol Council, according to Rep. Womack’s office, which said the lawmakers watched at night as migrants, including groups of unaccompanied children, entered the United States from rafts on the Rio Grande River. The lawmakers also toured the Donna Migrant Processing Facility and participated in a riverine tour with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Additionally, the delegation received operational briefings on challenges to law enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol officials, who highlighted national security threats, including drug and weapons smuggling, human trafficking, encounters with previously deported criminals, and apprehensions of terror watch list suspects, according to Rep. Womack’s office.

The visit followed a March 27 letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by Republican members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee — including Reps. Wagner and McCaul — requesting information about the Biden administration’s decision to rescind the Asylum Cooperation Agreements and the Migrant Protection Protocols.

“This and other policy decisions have resulted in border encounters with U.S. authorities increasing from 17,106 last April to over 100,000 in February 2021,” the members wrote. “Most concerning is the increasing number of unaccompanied minors reaching the U.S. border, which was at a daily average of 332 in February, up 60 percent from the month President Biden took office.” 

Also in March, Rep. Womack joined U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) and other members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee to request that the committee quickly hold hearings on the ongoing security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

“Actions have consequences,” Rep. Womack said at the time, “and the illegal migrant crisis we are seeing is the aftermath of President Biden’s reckless policy decisions. We need to know what is being done to immediately address this self-imposed and escalating situation.”