To highlight the ongoing immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) recently traveled there to review the support being provided by the North Dakota National Guard 1st Battalion, 112th Aviation Regiment.
Sen. Hoeven’s visit follows a report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that says almost 2.4 million individuals illegally crossed the southern border in fiscal year 2022.
“Our North Dakota National Guard members and CBP are working diligently to secure our southern border, despite the policies of the Biden administration,” said Sen. Hoeven. “The Biden administration’s refusal to enforce our laws is incentivizing illegal immigration and enabling both human and drug trafficking. Border security is key to our national security.”
During his recent visit, the senator took an aerial tour of the border and also met with National Guard members and CBP officials as part of his ongoing work to help secure the border against illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, according to his staff.
Among his other trips to receive reports on illegal immigration, Sen. Hoeven in July traveled to the Texas Rio Grande Valley with a congressional delegation, and in April headed to Del Rio and Eagle Pass, Texas. He also traveled with a bipartisan congressional delegation to Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, and Guatemala, his staff said.
Sen. Hoeven also continues pressing the Biden administration to reinstate key immigration policies, including the Migrant Protection Protocols or Remain in Mexico Policy, which required people seeking asylum at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their case was adjudicated, among others, according to his staff.