Our southern border is worth defending

I believe President Donald Trump got it right when he stated, “A nation without borders is not a nation.” That is why I testified in front of the United States House’s Committee on Homeland Security in favor of impeaching DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his refusal to secure the southern border. My understanding of border security comes from direct experience securing a nation’s border. It was earned on a barren desert battlefield half a world away from the turret of an M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. In 2005, as a newly minted 2nd Lieutenant, my platoon deployed to Nineveh Province, Iraq, under the command of then-Colonel H.R. McMaster and was tasked with securing the border between Iraq and Syria. Our mission was simple: close the border. And that’s exactly what we did. We did not capture people and release them into the interior of the country. We did not hand out citations and ask folks to report back in 10 years. We closed the border to ensure the country was safe. Since 2021, more than eight million illegal immigrants have entered the United States. That is more than the population of Missouri. These numbers are not an accident. There is only one reason eight million people illegally cross a sovereign nation’s border: because they know they can get away with it. In the years of Secretary Mayorkas’ reign, there has been an orchestrated lack of enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. That failure has not only led to impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas; it has given rise to an unprecedented level of state actions necessary to fill the vacuum created by the Secretary’s ineptitude. My office has been on the front lines of the battle to secure our southern border. In FY 2020, Congress appropriated funds explicitly for the purpose of constructing barrier systems at the southern border to keep illegal immigrants out of our country. In the appropriation, Congress explicitly stated the money “shall only be available for construction of barrier systems along the southwest border.” Secretary Mayorkas refused to comply with Congress’ command. Missouri immediately filed suit. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that states can bring a challenge against the federal government for abdicating its responsibility at the border. That ruling cleared the way for our lawsuit against the Secretary’s refusal to finish President Donald Trump’s border wall to move forward. We also filed suit against Mayorkas for allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to be “paroled” into the United States every year without congressional authorization. Parole allows noncitizens to physically enter and remain in the United States without lawful status for several years while their application is reviewed. We also filed suit to halt Mayorkas’ attempt to implement a rule that redefined what had previously been considered illegal border crossings as “lawful pathways.” Rather than acknowledge the root cause of the influx of illegal immigrants poring over our border, the Secretary tried to define the problem away by simply making something that was once illegal into something legal. Mayorkas’ “process” would allow vast numbers of illegal immigrants to enter the country and receive instant work authorization under bogus asylum claims. Mayorkas has enacted illegal policies that are akin to posting a “Come In, We’re Open” sign along the southern border. States are then forced to bear the enormous cost of Secretary Mayorkas’ failure, despite it not being the states’ responsibility to do the federal government’s job for them. Secretary Mayorkas swore an oath to faithfully execute the laws of our land, and is refusing to do so. In Missouri, we remove officials who do not do their jobs because we have seen firsthand the catastrophic toll it takes on entire communities. I ousted a Soros-backed prosecutor from office because her refusal to do her job resulted in the killing and maiming of countless Missourians. Since we took action, order has been restored to the City of St. Louis. Congress must remove a government official who refuses to do his job for the same reason: to restore order. We have reached a point of “no-return.” My office is doing everything we can at the state level to rectify this appalling situation, but Congress has a role to play in restoring accountability. While we battle in the nation’s courts, Congress must use every tool at its disposal to obtain accountability for the American people. If we can send American troops overseas to secure a nation’s border, we can surely secure our own. Andrew Bailey is a combat veteran and 44th Attorney General of the State of Missouri.