{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://fulcher.house.gov/2021/06/23/id-b4d3c87e-7409-46bc-a3b2-61c89a57d8d6/", "Fulcher Continues Fight to End Growing Border Crisis", "2021-06-23", "2021", "2021-06", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Russ Fulcher", "F000469", "fulcher.house.gov", "fulcher", "https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Contact:\n\nAlexah Rogge\n\n202-225-6611\n\nalexah.rogge@mail.house.gov\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Fulcher is continuing legislative efforts to add pressure to a solution for the historic crisis at the southern border.\n\nIn his first 100 days in office, President Biden issued 94 executive actions relating to immigration, including defunding border wall construction and re-implementing the Obama-era \u201ccatch and release\u201d policy. These actions, shouldered with campaign rhetoric encouraging illegal immigration, have caused a growing crisis at the southern border.\n\nOn March 24th, President Biden appointed Vice President Harris to lead efforts relating to the surge of immigrants at the southern border, but she has yet to visit the border or engage in efforts to reverse the growing crisis.\n\nCongressman Fulcher joined a letter with 55 other colleagues to remove Vice President Harris from this position, to be replaced by an official who is equipped and motivated to take this situation seriously.\n\nCongressman Fulcher commented, \u201cThe person in charge of the historic border crisis has yet to visit the border or take any significant actions. This is an insult to Americans grappling with the 300% increase in fentanyl coming over the border compared to last year, to the thousands being taken advantage of by cartels to the tune of millions a month, to the unaccompanied children in overflowing camps, and to the rule of law in our country. We all deserve better.\u201d\n\nThere have been a record number of unaccompanied children at the border, including more than 14,000 in the month of May alone. It has been reported that 3,000 male children (ages 15-17) had to be moved to a convention center in Dallas to deal with the overflow. Previously, the Administration had opened up a \u201ctent city\u201d outside of Dallas where about 1,000 children, some as young as four years old, are being held. And, some 4,200 children are currently being held in Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) cells that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has described as \u201cno place for a child;\u201d this was an increase of 1,000 from the previous week. Finally, leaked HHS reports indicate some children are spending an average of 107 hours in the cells. A CBS report said one CBP sector in the Rio Grande Valley is operating at 363% of capacity, with more than 2,500 unaccompanied minors in custody.\n\nCongressman Fulcher joined a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra requesting a House briefing on the status of unaccompanied children at the border . This letter was led by Congressman Ralph Norman, who accompanied Rep. Fulcher to the southern border in 2020.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration must accept responsibility for deteriorating conditions at the border,\u201d said Congressman Fulcher. \u201cBy continuing to duck responsibility, we are kicking the can down the road at a time when unaccompanied minors are facing worsening conditions in detention facilities and our border agents continue to be overwhelmed.\u201d\n\nThe open border and \u2018catch and release\u2019 policy being restored from the Obama Administration have also served as a conduit for increased criminal gang, terrorist, drug, and human trafficking activity. In May, Fox News reported that cartels made $14 million a day from trafficking women, children, families, and single adults. Former Tucson Border Patrol Chief Roy Villareal, a 30 year vet of the agency, called trafficking a \u201cmulti-billion dollar industry.\u201d\n\nCongressman Fulcher cosponsored Congresswoman Herrell\u2019s bill, H.R. 3504, to require the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a more thorough review of these activities for anyone who enters the country illegally. The legislation does so by requiring DHS to conduct more outreach and coordination with other countries\u2019 migration authorities. It also requires DHS to end the policy of \u201ccatch and release,\u201d and take additional efforts to check the criminal history more thoroughly of those entering the country illegally.\n\nCongressman Fulcher commented, \u201cWe know this situation is out of control, but we need more information and transparency from Secretary Mayorkas on the crime and drug activity being fostered by this environment. Individuals on the terrorist watch list have successfully entered the country through the southern border, and cartels \u2014 bolstered by the trafficking industry \u2014 continue to inflict violence which is spreading on both sides of the border.\u201d\n\nWith the recent requests from Governors in states bordering the southern U.S. boundaries, Congressman Fulcher cosponsored H. J. Res. 50, which affirms states\u2019 Article 1 Section 10 right to defend against a border incursion or similar imminent danger. The resolution highlights the Biden Administration\u2019s failure to uphold their Constitutional duty to \u201cfaithfully execute\u201d the laws of the land, and as a result have endangered our citizens. H. J. Res. 50 affirms the Article 1 Section 10 right for states to defend themselves when the federal government fails to do so.\n\nThese efforts by Congressman Fulcher join those of Idaho\u2019s other federal and state officials. Governor Little recently announced that the State of Idaho is assessing its own resources to assist Texas and Arizona in their efforts to secure the southern border.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:57:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://fulcher.house.gov/2021/06/23/id-b4d3c87e-7409-46bc-a3b2-61c89a57d8d6/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8472609333693981, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}