FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov)

Rep. Crawford Votes to Defend our Southern Border as Title 42 Lapse Causes Chaos

5/11/2023

Washington – With Title 42 restrictions on illegal entry into the U.S. from the southern border ending, Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01) voted on Thursday in support of H.R. 2, The Secure the Border Act of 2023. The bill is designed to limit the chaos that is expected beginning when Title 42 lapses late Thursday night.

“When President Biden took office, he put out a welcome mat for illegal migrants, inviting them into our country as word spread that his Administration would fly them to any destination in the country, at taxpayers’ expense,” Rep. Crawford said.

“Millions responded, flooding our nation with undocumented immigrants, overcrowding our schools and hospitals and allowing drug cartels to traffic fentanyl and other deadly drugs throughout our nation. Now, with Title 42 ending, Biden is replacing his welcome mat with a red carpet, moving this from a crisis to a catastrophe.”

The legislation Crawford supported, and which passed the House, would, among other things:

• Require an immediate restart of border wall construction using previously appropriated and unexpired funds that the Biden administration irresponsibly cancelled on January 20, 2021.
• Support Border Patrol agents by providing retention bonuses and hiring thousands of additional Border Patrol agents. 
• Return Border Patrol Agents to their law enforcement mission in the field rather than as paper pushers preparing illegal immigrants to be released into our nation’s interior.
• Address the immigration court backlog by strengthening and streamlining the asylum process, ensuring that those with valid claims of asylum are protected and adjudicated in a timely manner. 
• End Biden’s “catch and release” policies and ensure that detention for the pendency of their immigration court proceedings, removal, or a Remain-in-Mexico type program are the only options for those who illegally cross the border.
• Create penalties for visa overstays that are equal to the criminal penalties for illegally crossing the border.

“The failure of his Administration to prepare for this catastrophe, despite months of warning, strongly suggests that President Biden is fine with what is coming. We need to invest resources for our borders and allow border patrol agents to carry out their jobs and keep us safe,” Crawford concluded.

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