Goodlatte Statement on President’s Border Supplemental Request
Washington, D.C. — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) released the statement below following President Obama’s $3.7 billion emergency supplemental request to address the surge of children, teenagers, and families from Central America seeking to enter the U.S. illegally.
Chairman Goodlatte: “President Obama created this disaster at our southern border and now he is asking to use billions of taxpayer dollars without accountability or a plan in place to actually stop the border crisis. Most of the money requested in the President’s supplemental seems geared towards processing Central Americans than stopping the surge itself. It’s clear that law enforcement officers at the border need more resources to deal with the border crisis but resources will only be useful if there are consequences for illegal immigration.
“Republicans are committed to solving this problem, including seeking changes to current law. However, no amount of resources or changes will be effective in stemming the surge of illegal border crossings if President Obama continues to ignore the law. President Obama can and should take action now to halt the flood of illegal crossings at our southwest border. President Obama has many tools at his disposal now to quell this activity at our southern border, such as enforcing immigration laws and cracking down on rampant asylum fraud. Unfortunately, none of these tools are mentioned in his proposal.
“During my trip to the Rio Grande Valley last week, Border Patrol and ICE agents unanimously stated that the best way to end this crisis is deterrence. Some of them expressed frustration that political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security have not sought input from the agents on the ground dealing with this problem first hand. As President Obama is in Texas this week, I urge him to meet with law enforcement officers who are on the front lines so that he can better understand how his policies have created this crisis and how he can end it.”
Last week, Chairman Goodlatte led a bipartisan delegation to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to examine this crisis and seek solutions on how best to stop it. During the trip, members of the House Judiciary Committee toured federal facilities and met with those dealing with this problem firsthand at the border, including law enforcement officers and federal officials from the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services. Key findings from the trip can be found here.