Ernst: Stop the Dangerous Surge at the Border

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is helping introduce the Stopping Border Surges Act, a bill to address loopholes in our immigration system which encourage vulnerable immigrant populations to take dangerous, illegal paths of entry into the United States.

 

“The current surge of migrants at our border, due in large part to the immediate and illogical reversal of the previous administration’s policies, underscores the need for Congress to work together to address this humanitarian and national security crisis. Right now, loopholes in our immigration system are encouraging unaccompanied children and families to make the perilous journey—at the hands of ruthless smugglers—to enter the U.S. through our now-open southern border. This bill will close a number of these loopholes and help stop this dangerous surge,”  said Senator Joni Ernst.

 

Background:

The Stopping Border Surges Act, led by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), includes reforms that would help stem the surges of illegal immigrants that our country can neither support nor sustain; strengthen our asylum process; eliminate the incentive to send children on the perilous, solo journey to the border; and dampen the exploitative power of the coyotes and cartels.

 

Last week, Senator Ernst joined her colleagues in highlighting President Joe Biden’s unlawful suspension of border wall funding and construction.

 

Senator Ernst also published an op-ed outlining the border crisis as both a humanitarian one and a threat to U.S. national security and urged President Biden and his administration to acknowledge the border crisis.

 

As the lead Republican on the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Ernst highlighted the importance of defending the border against the threat of Transnational Criminal Organizations and other nefarious influencers—including Iran, Russia, and China—and called on her colleagues to work together to secure the border.

 

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