Report: Damage from border crisis ‘will take decades to repair’

(The Center Square) – A sweeping new report from a U.S. House committee accuses the Biden administration of “the worst border crisis in American history.”

“Crisis By Design,” as the Republican majority on the House Homeland Security Committee called it, describes how the administration has addressed the crisis at the southern border since the 2020 elections.

“Even if not a single inadmissible alien were to cross our borders for the remainder of Biden and Harris’s term, the millions they have already allowed into our country have done damage that will take decades to repair,” said House Committee Chairman Dr. Mark Green, R-Tenn.

According to the report, there have been 8.2 million border crossings at the southwest border since February 2021. Other borders and ports of entry bring the total number of border crossings to 10.1 million, the report said. By the end of the Biden administration, the report estimates there will be an estimated 11.6 million encounters nationwide.

This is a 274% increase from the 3.1 million encounters from 2017-20, the report said. The figures do not include the 2 million encounters known as “gotaways”.

The Center Square has reported that actual illegal border crossings now exceed 12.5 million under the Biden-Harris administration. The Center Square includes “gotaway” data, which represents illegal border crossers who successfully enter the U.S. between ports of entry and are not apprehended. U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not make gotaway data public; The Center Square obtains the data from a Border Patrol agent in the field.

“At the same time, transnational criminal organizations such as Mexico’s criminal cartels and violent gangs have been enriched and empowered by record profits from drug trafficking and human trafficking,” the report said. “They are funneling these blood-bought dollars into their ever-expanding operations in U.S. cities and across the hemisphere.”

Many Border Patrol agents have been pulled from the border and are not enforcing U.S. immigration laws, instead processing and releasing people who cross the border, in line with Biden and Harris’ policies, the report said.

The report says the human cost to both Americans and migrants is incalculable, as fentanyl and humans continue to be smuggled across the border, killing thousands.

The report says: “Illegal aliens are committing crimes in American communities large and small, and their shocking acts of violence and recklessness have been documented in every state.”

The report states that the number of gang members, violent criminals and other potential threats to public safety will remain unknown in the future.

The report said that in the run-up to the 2020 election, Biden encouraged people around the world to flock to the border to seek asylum, despite the fact that the majority did not qualify for that protection.

“My staff and I engaged and advised the Biden transition teams well before the inauguration,” former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott said in his testimony before the committee. “The administration’s laser focus on expediting processing and expanding the ability for migrants to enter the U.S. never wavered. Advice from professionals was ignored. Policies were implemented that resulted in the release of thousands of aliens into the U.S., illegal immigration surged, overwhelming Border Patrol and effectively handing control of our southwest border directly to the Mexican drug cartels.”

Even with the warnings, the report found the Biden administration implemented unlawful policies, noting that “the resulting crisis in early 2021 was predictable, swift, and catastrophic.”

Republicans have criticized Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden and Harris, describing her as a “border czar” who has failed to address the root causes of migration in 2021. Mayorkas was impeached earlier this year by the Republican-controlled House, but the charges were dropped without a trial in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Data from the Department of Homeland Security shows that less than 2% of people living in or entering the U.S. illegally are under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Biden, Harris, and Mayorkas were given the responsibility to secure the border, enforce the law, and ensure the safety of Americans,” the report said, adding that the current administration has betrayed the trust of the American people and willfully disregarded the government’s obligations to the American people.