The fight to secure the border

Over the last few years, Americans have been shouting at the top of their lungs for the Biden administration to take action to end the chaos on our border. Time and again, leaders on the Left have claimed the border is secure. But now, with the 2024 elections less than a year away, Biden and Washington Democrats have suddenly changed their tune. In addition to admitting the border is in chaos, they are also calling on Republicans to work with them to pass an immigration bill.

The bottom line is that just throwing money at the border won't make this crisis go away. What we need are policy changes -- something Biden has the power to do himself. During his first 100 days in office, he took a blowtorch to President Donald Trump's effective immigration agenda, whether it was halting border wall construction, reinstating catch-and-release or ending the "Remain-in Mexico" program.

The consequences of his disastrous policy decisions are devastating. Since Biden took office, more than 8 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border. That's more than the population of Missouri and Biden's home state of Delaware combined. What's alarming is that within that same time span, nearly 300 suspected terrorists have been caught trying to sneak into the United States.

During one of my visits to the border, I saw first-hand that migrants entering the United States aren't just coming from South and Central America. In fact, migrants have been arriving in greater numbers and from more countries than ever before in U.S. history. We've seen a massive influx of migrant men from countries like Guinea, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Syria -- a breeding ground for terrorists.

Many of the migrants are coming into the country illegally by riding freight trains through Mexico. It's gotten so bad that the United States had to close two rail crossings in Texas. Shutting down these crossings is causing major disruptions to commerce between the United States and Mexico, one of Missouri's top trade partners. According to train operator Union Pacific, these two crossings support 45% of all cross-border rail commerce, and the shutdowns cause $200 million per day in wages, goods and transportation costs.

There's nothing normal about what's going on at the border. And the chaos was entirely predictable. Republicans warned Biden that this is exactly what would happen when he got rid of President Trump's effective border agenda.

After Republicans retook the House majority, we passed the Secure the Border Act -- the toughest, most effective border security legislation in decades. But that critical bill is just gathering dust because the Democrat-controlled Senate refuses to take it up.

While the details of Senate Democrats' border bill haven't been released, I'm highly skeptical that it will include the policies we need to bring this crisis to an end. But as I've said, Biden doesn't have to wait for Congress to send him a bill. There are numerous actions he could take right now that could help put out the fire raging at our border. No matter what happens, I will continue fighting back against the Left's disastrous immigration agenda.

JASON SMITH represents Missouri's 8th Congressional District.