Until very recently, our CBP officers had to rely on a single old pickup truck equipped with a mounted X-ray and gamma-ray system to do the screening. Whenever the truck broke down, legitimate trade and travel were delayed, and the risk of dangerous material crossing our border was heightened. And that decades-old truck broke down a lot.
It was years before the Department of Homeland Security and CBP could upgrade this critical inspection system — because, for too long, Congress has shortchanged our border security budget. Too many elected officials believe that making cable TV appearances to decry a broken system is better for their politics than equipping our nation’s front-line officers with the resources they need to carry out their difficult jobs.
Ensuring the safety and security of the American people is more than just a talking point. It is a national imperative. That is why the Biden-Harris administration has requested critical supplemental homeland and border security funding from Congress as part of a broader global-security budget request that includes funding to help Israel fight Hamas terrorists and Ukraine counter Russian aggression. Congress must pass it.
Consider that fentanyl has killed more than a quarter of a million Americans since 2018. Cartels are constantly adapting their tactics to produce and traffic more of this immensely profitable opioid, along with precursor chemicals, contraband and other deadly narcotics.
Most fentanyl is smuggled into the United States through Ports of Entry, hidden in the hubcaps, seat backs and trunks and cargo holds of vehicles driven by U.S. citizens. Our supplemental funding request will send 1,000 additional officers and investigators to Ports of Entry, deploy more than 100 cutting-edge detection machines across hot spots, and fund additional international anti-trafficking operations.
Separately, economic, political and climate instability exacerbated in the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic is fueling the greatest level of global migration since World War II, particularly in our hemisphere. To stem the effects of this historic migration, we have pursued a comprehensive strategy to increase enforcement at the border and return those who are ineligible for protection under the law, expand lawful pathways for migration and accelerate work permits, and work with our partners across the region to curb irregular migration and ensure that those seeking refuge do so in a safe and orderly manner.
Our funding request will enable the hiring and deployment of 1,300 new Border Patrol agents, 1,400 attorneys and staff to support immigration cases and 2,700 new asylum officers and staff. It will increase our capacity for safe and humane border enforcement, with temporary holding facilities and more detention beds for individuals placed in expedited removal proceedings. It will provide $1.4 billion to the cities and other communities that need additional support, and expedite the issuance of work authorization documents for eligible noncitizens.
To be clear, this supplemental funding is like a tourniquet — urgently needed and critical in the short-term, but not a long-term solution to a deep-seated problem. Our national immigration laws, having last gone through major revisions by Congress in 1996, are severely out-of-date, and our system is completely broken. On this, everyone agrees.
Only Congress can bring our immigration and border security systems into the 21st century. Our administration is eager to work with Congress to deliver for the American people and the men and women who protect our country.
In the meantime, DHS will continue to enforce our laws, secure our border, and safeguard our communities. We have seized more fentanyl over the past two years than in the previous five years combined — our Operations Artemis, Rolling Wave, Blue Lotus, Four Horsemen, and Argus contributed to the interdiction of more than 40,000 pounds of fentanyl last year alone. Since the ending of pandemic-era rules under Title 42, we have removed or returned more than 320,000 noncitizens, including repatriation flights to Venezuela of people who are not eligible for protection. We are arresting the leaders of transnational criminal organizations and disrupting and dismantling the smuggling organizations that exploit the vulnerable.
President Biden often reminds us of his father’s expression: “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” If Congress truly values the safety and security of the American people, it will pass our supplemental budget request.
By Alejandro N. Mayorkas
Alejandro N. Mayorkas is the U.S secretary of homeland security.
