Border Security

Lawlessness is not compassion and what is occurring on our southern border is lawlessness. Securing our border is a matter of national security, a matter of economic security, and a matter of fighting the flow of opioids into our country that is destroying families.

The federal government’s unwillingness to take back operational control of our border from the cartels has caused a humanitarian crisis and cost thousands of lives. This has become more apparent with an Administration that refuses to enforce the laws on the books. Securing the border is a federal issue, but so long as the federal government refuses to enforce the law, border states like Texas should declare an invasion and use their authority under Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 authority to defend their states.

The brave men and women of our Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) do not have the resources they need to effectively combat this open border. Every day, the pernicious cartels take advantage of the gaps in our system with no regard for human life.

Securing our borders will crack down on cartels and make our communities safer. The Biden administration should reimplement the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy that stemmed the flow of illegal immigration into our nation.

Congress should pass legislation that would declare certain cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations to make additional resources available for our law enforcement entities on the border. Congress should move immediately to finish building the wall, which at one point was a bipartisan solution. CBP wants the wall as it acts as a force multiplier for them. Congress should increase staffing at CBP and ICE, we should strengthen interior enforcement, provide advanced technology and communication systems to support their missions, and improve border infrastructure by building better roads and clearing cane and brush that obstruct their vision of the border.

In 2019, I sent a letter with 11 other Members of Congress recommending a list of policies that the Trump Administration should adopt. Thanks to the Trump Administration, half of those recommendations in the letter were enacted.