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Issa Testifies Before House Natural Resources Member Forum on Lasting Damage of Biden’s Open Border Policies

May 27, 2021

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-50) testified today before a House Natural Resources Committee-led forum on the impacts of the Biden Administration’s reckless open border policies. Committee Republicans held the session to call attention to the serious consequences of record-high level of migrant traffic into the United States.

“The chaos that is enveloping our southern border is the direct result of reckless actions and stunning indifference from the Biden Administration,” said Issa. "This was a forum that needed to be convened, and these are truths that needed to be told.  Having recently visited the California border sectors, the impact on California in particular needed to be aired in Congress.”

The forum included presentations from witnesses whose private property, livestock, outbuildings, vehicles, and crops have been damaged by the current flow of illegal migrants. Testimony was also heard from Arizona state officials that in just one instance, collected more than 460,000 pounds of trash discarded by migrants and traffickers onto public lands and desert wilderness areas near the border.

Congressman Issa pointed out that in April alone, Customs and Border Patrol encountered more than 178,000 people attempting to cross the border illegally – the highest one-month total in two decades. He also detailed his three tours of the border region in 2021, pointing out that there are caches of construction materials and heavy moving equipment rotting in the desert because the Biden Administration halted on its first day, needed construction on programs to bolster border security. 

Issa specifically discussed the conditions along the California-Mexico border with Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council. Judd told the Members of Congress and public viewing the livestreamed hearing that the Tijuana River and New River –which flow into the United States from Mexico – are so polluted that agents who come into contact with the water cannot reuse their uniforms.
 
Issa also described his concerns, discussed with Judd on a recent border region visit, that Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are leaving the force or retiring because of how they are being treated when dealing with an unprecedented flood of cross-border illegal migrants. “That means … we are going to lose people who can, in fact, look out for the environment and make sure that these areas are being protected.”

Click here to view Congressman Issa’s forum presentation. 

Click here to view the entire forum.

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