U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) led 75 of his Republican colleagues in demanding answers from the Biden Administration about reports that it is considering the payment of up to $1 million per migrant family who illegally crossed the southern border in 2018.
In an Oct. 29 letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the lawmakers cited an Oct. 28 Wall Street Journal article that said the Biden Administration is considering offering nearly $1 million per family to those who were taken into custody and separated after crossing the border into the United States from Mexico.
“If finalized, the total settlement could reach $1 billion or more. Unfortunately, this is just the latest in a litany of issues created by extreme policy changes that have led to the ongoing, persistent, and preventable historic humanitarian crisis at our border,” the letter said.
“While immigration has been a bedrock of the United States since its founding, we should not be creating policy that encourages individuals to illegally enter our country by traveling thousands of miles through some of the most dangerous parts of the world organized by international criminal syndicates responsible for thousands of murders throughout Mexico and the U.S. – all during a global pandemic,” the lawmakers wrote.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported last month that roughly 1.7 million migrants had been apprehended at the southern border this fiscal year, the highest-ever recorded level, Rep. Upton’s staff noted, adding that the number is expected to continue rising into 2022.
“We are currently experiencing a real humanitarian crisis at our southern border; and I’ve seen it for myself during my visit earlier this year,” said U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), one of the signers of the letter. “Unfortunately, since my trip to the border, the situation has only worsened. Rather than signaling to the world that our borders are open and those who attempt to illegally enter our country will get a pay-off, the Biden Administration needs to reverse course, take action to secure our border, and make it clear to those who want to come to our country that they must go through the proper legal channels.”
Rep. Upton and his colleagues asked the Biden Administration if the reporting was accurate and whether families who illegally crossed the southern border and were separated could receive larger settlements than the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The letter also asked for the total amount of taxpayer dollars that the administration planned to authorize to settle the cases and whether the families who illegally crossed the southern border and were separated would be given preferential treatment to remain in the United States.