More than a dozen House Republicans from Texas have joined Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, in a call for lawmakers to stop funding for the Department of Homeland Security until a number of steps are taken ‘to secure the border,’ as numbers once again increase at the border.
‘Simply put, no member of Congress should agree to fund a federal agency at war with his state and people,’ the fiery letter to colleagues says. ‘We have a moral obligation to protect our states, our nation, and, importantly, the migrant children getting abused from the disaster transpiring at our southern border.’
‘No border security, no funding.’
The letter claims that Texas ‘is bearing the brunt of a national crisis at our southern border directly resulting from the unlawful and irresponsible actions of President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.’
The letter highlights the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border, as well as the role of criminal cartels, deaths of migrants and sex-trafficking across the border, as well as the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
It notes Texas’ own efforts to secure the border in Operation Lone Star, which has seen the surging of resources and law enforcement to tackle the crisis. Most recently the state set up a floating border barrier in the Rio Grande, which was immediately hit by a lawsuit from the Justice Department.
The lawmakers note the House’s passage of a sweeping border security and asylum reform bill passed by the Republican majority earlier this year, but they say the legislation ‘amounts to nothing more than political theater if we are unwilling to use the strongest tool granted to us by the founders – the power of the purse – to force the change necessary to protect Texas and secure the border.
The chamber is in recess but will need to pass a continuing resolution or appropriations measure before funding runs out at the end of September. The lawmakers say that there should be no appropriations for DHS until a number of steps are taken, including the signing into law by President Biden of HR 2, additional policies to allow law enforcement to target cartels, the removal of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and a $10 billion reimbursement of Texas for its own border security efforts.
Roy had made those calls earlier this week after images emerged, reported by Fox News, of armed men crossing into Texas.
Roy called on Republicans to act and ‘stop funding’ a ‘government that is at war with the people of Texas.’
‘We are not going to fund the government that is perpetuating the lawlessness, empowering cartels, allowing fentanyl to kill Americans, and allowing little girls to get raped in stash houses in Texas. Enough! This is our fight, and I’m tired of Republicans who are giving lip service to it and for years have been supporting it because they want cheap labor.’
The letter came on the same day as the Biden administration sent a new supplemental funding request, which included $4 billion for border and migration funding.
‘As it relates to the border, the supplemental funding request represents the resource requirements DHS believes are essential to manage the border through the end of the calendar year. Border dynamics are fluid, and the Administration will continue to communicate with Congress as conditions evolve.
Mayorkas has been at the center of Republican criticism for the ongoing crisis at the border, with critics accusing him of unraveling Trump-era policies, and in the process encouraging the new wave of migrants seen since 2021. Mayorkas has rejected that narrative, instead calling on Congress to approve more funding and to pass legislation to fix a ‘broken system.’ He had also pointed to a drop in numbers in June as a sign that recent policies are working.
‘Our approach to managing the borders securely and humanely, even within our fundamentally broken immigration system, is working,’ Mayorkas told lawmakers last month.
‘Under President Biden’s leadership, we have led the largest expansion of lawful, safe and orderly pathways for people to seek humanitarian relief under our laws. At the same time, imposing tougher consequences on those who instead resort to the ruthless smuggling organizations that prey on the most vulnerable.’
However, recently there have been signs that numbers have been going back up, with agents encountering around 6,000 migrants a day this week.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Heckman and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
