Collins views border crisis firsthand
May 31, 2019
WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, traveled to America’s southern border this week to see the work Customs and Border Protection officials and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are doing to address the escalating border crisis.
“The El Paso processing centers, like so many on our southern border, are far beyond capacity and are severely understaffed because of the large number of migrants crossing the border every day,” said Collins.
“People lined up wall-to-wall in the facility, waiting to be processed after entering the country illegally. Almost all the migrants I spoke with said they were coming into the U.S. to work. These stories illustrate how flaws in our immigration laws incentivize migrants to come here illegally and make frivolous asylum claims to that end."
“I spoke with agent after agent, and each told me they’re overwhelmed. Forty percent of Border Patrol Agents are pulled off the frontlines to do paperwork and other humanitarian work associated with processing migrants. This means that there are few, if any, agents actually trying to secure the border. It's a national security risk.”
Collins walked along the border where he encountered multiple groups of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.
“Men, women and children — including adults holding babies — were walking and running into the custody of Customs and Border Protection officials. Border officers apprehended one group of more than 1,100 migrants Wednesday morning while I was in El Paso. That’s the size of my kids’ high school. The young children I saw aren’t equipped to trek across Mexico and Central America. If Democrats believe there’s no humanitarian crisis down here, they’re deceiving themselves. Republicans stand ready to address the national security and humanitarian crisis, but Democrats continue to ignore the victims of our warped system and the agents who work to protect them,” said Collins.
While touring a Border Patrol facility in El Paso, Collins met Cuban migrants who may have legitimate claims to asylum. Unfortunately, because America’s credible fear standard is extremely low, it incentivizes people to abuse the U.S. asylum system. As a result, baseless asylum claims hurt people with legitimate asylum claims and increase the backlog in U.S. immigration courts.
“Many seeking asylum in America fear real persecution in their home countries, but the vast majority of people crossing our border and making asylum claims today are economic migrants and many of those are making frivolous asylum claims. This hurts people like some of the Cuban migrants I spoke with who are fleeing the communist Cuban regime. Reforming our asylum system would help those truly fleeing persecution,” said Collins.
Collins introduced the Fix the Immigration Loopholes Act this January to close three key loopholes in immigration policy driving the border surge. Collins also proposed emergency resources for the border crisis in May.
“I spoke with agent after agent, and each told me they’re overwhelmed. Forty percent of Border Patrol Agents are pulled off the frontlines to do paperwork and other humanitarian work associated with processing migrants. This means that there are few, if any, agents actually trying to secure the border. It's a national security risk.”
Collins walked along the border where he encountered multiple groups of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.
“Men, women and children — including adults holding babies — were walking and running into the custody of Customs and Border Protection officials. Border officers apprehended one group of more than 1,100 migrants Wednesday morning while I was in El Paso. That’s the size of my kids’ high school. The young children I saw aren’t equipped to trek across Mexico and Central America. If Democrats believe there’s no humanitarian crisis down here, they’re deceiving themselves. Republicans stand ready to address the national security and humanitarian crisis, but Democrats continue to ignore the victims of our warped system and the agents who work to protect them,” said Collins.
While touring a Border Patrol facility in El Paso, Collins met Cuban migrants who may have legitimate claims to asylum. Unfortunately, because America’s credible fear standard is extremely low, it incentivizes people to abuse the U.S. asylum system. As a result, baseless asylum claims hurt people with legitimate asylum claims and increase the backlog in U.S. immigration courts.
“Many seeking asylum in America fear real persecution in their home countries, but the vast majority of people crossing our border and making asylum claims today are economic migrants and many of those are making frivolous asylum claims. This hurts people like some of the Cuban migrants I spoke with who are fleeing the communist Cuban regime. Reforming our asylum system would help those truly fleeing persecution,” said Collins.
Collins introduced the Fix the Immigration Loopholes Act this January to close three key loopholes in immigration policy driving the border surge. Collins also proposed emergency resources for the border crisis in May.