Wicker: The Cost of the Biden-Harris Border Crisis

The Biden-Harris administration has forced the nation to adjust to life under a border that is out of control. By ignoring border security, the administration has effectively imposed a new tax on cities, states, and law enforcement agencies, forcing them to bear the cost of its decisions. The president and vice president have also created an environment so chaotic that it has become a national security vulnerability. Criminal gangs, and even our adversaries, are eager to exploit the crisis.

Under government watch, more than three million illegal immigrants have been taken into U.S. custody and then released. Some researchers have attempted to quantify the economic impact of the border crisis. One study estimates that the situation is costing taxpayers $150 billion a year — enough to fund three years of the defense spending increase we need.

Vice President Oversaw Chaos

This cascade of rising costs is a direct result of the administration’s choices. The president tapped Vice President Harris to fix the situation at the border. Instead, she has presided over its deterioration. Border encounters rose every year from 2021 to 2023, peaking when December 2023 broke the monthly record.

The crisis is hitting cities and states

A problem this big can be hard to imagine in the real world. But school districts and health care systems—including Mississippi’s—have had no trouble understanding the practical impact of the vice president’s policies. Both have had to expand their capacity to keep pace. Law enforcement agencies have had to respond, too. The chaos has allowed violent cartels to flourish and bad actors to find loopholes. In June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested eight migrants with ties to ISIS and held them for months after they successfully crossed border patrols in the Southwest.

Administration wastes resources in dangerous times

The White House is making Americans foot the bill for its self-inflicted fiasco. This is the worst time for such irresponsibility. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have shown that they are eager to overthrow the leadership of the United States, and they are building the military hardware to challenge us. We can stop these aggressors from moving against us, but only if we rebuild our national security. Instead of imposing $150 billion a year in immigration costs on the American people, the Biden-Harris administration should have made an investment of that magnitude in our military and defense industry.

This year, I published a comprehensive plan to update our military. I put that plan into action through my role as the senior Republican on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, starting with a security budget increase in our committee’s defense bill. It will be expensive to update our military assets—more than $55 billion a year for at least five years. But paying to prevent war now will cost far less than fighting or losing in a conflict.

In my work on the Armed Services Committee, I have also sponsored legislation that would allow the Department of Defense (DOD) to assist at the border. One bill would give DOD the authority to counter the thousands of drones that cartels use to traffic people and drugs. Another bill would help DOD improve information sharing between agencies working in the area. I have also overseen the implementation of the FINISH IT Act, a bill I authored and passed with the goal of strengthening the border wall.

The administration’s crisis has reinforced the point that border security is national security. It is high time for the president and vice president to recognize that and seize this moment to begin rebuilding America’s defenses.