Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee announced a border security bill Monday that would require the Biden administration to immediately resume building former President Donald Trump’s border wall.
The legislation also would direct the Border Patrol to add roughly 2,000 more agents to its ranks and would squelch the administration’s attempt to harness a border-crossing phone app into a key tool in President Biden’s new catch-and-release program.
Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the committee, said the bill will deliver “real border security solutions” at a time when they are desperately needed.
“This legislation demands transparency from DHS and ensures CBP and border states have the infrastructure, personnel, and technology needed to take back control of our sovereign borders,” the Tennessee Republican said. “It’s time to put the cartels in their place and put the protection of our communities first.”
He said the bill was written based on the ideas lawmakers gleaned from Border Patrol agents and, in particular, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, who testified to the committee this year.
Chief Ortiz has emerged as an unlikely foil to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Where Mr. Mayorkas refuses to call the border chaos a “crisis” and insists the boundary is “secure,” Chief Ortiz has told lawmakers that a majority of his sectors in the Southwest are not currently secure.
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He also said it was a mistake to stop building the border wall and pleaded for more agents and the ability to deliver “consequences” to unauthorized border crossers.
Mr. Green’s bill takes particular aim at the Department of Homeland Security, requiring it to publicize key stats about the border, including the estimated number of “gotaways” who evade detection.
Limiting the use of the CBP One app is also a jab at the department.
The app was designed as a way for those with border business to schedule appointments. But it has recently become the backbone of Mr. Biden’s new “parole” program, which is allowing tens of thousands of migrants a month to come to legal border crossings and gain entry, even though they have no recourse in the law for entry.
Mr. Green’s bill also would funnel resources to local authorities who are trying to plug the gaps they say were left by Mr. Biden’s more lenient policies.
The legislation joins a bill that advanced last week through the House Judiciary Committee that addresses policy questions such as rolling back recent expansions in the asylum system and constraining the parole power that’s been used to facilitate the catch and release of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.
That measure cleared the committee on a party-line vote, though it has met with resistance from some Republicans who say it’s too unforgiving to asylum seekers.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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