{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141030220745/http://bridenstine.house.gov/media-center/blog-posts/congressman-jim-bridenstine-visits-southern-border", "Congressman Jim Bridenstine Visits Southern Border", "2014-10-30", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "OK", "Jim Bridenstine", "B001283", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Many of you remember when President Obama's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) denied me access to the Fort Sill HHS facility during the high point of the Unaccompanied Children (UAC) crisis.\u00a0Based upon the response to\u00a0my Securing America townhall, it's clear many folks in the First District\u00a0understand that border security is national security and the Obama Administration is utterly failing to protect American sovereignty and safety.\u00a0Last Friday, I went on a fact-finding visit to the southern border with my friend Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).\u00a0 We visited with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel manning\u00a0the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) sector.\nThe RGV is immense.\u00a0 The sector covers 316 border miles, about 35,000 square miles total, and\u00a0spans 34 Texas counties.\u00a0 RGV is the most trafficked sector in the country for\u00a0human smuggling and drug cartel activity. \u00a0RGV accounts for about 50% of total annual apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the southern border.\u00a0 Rep. Blackburn and I visited the McAllen Border Patrol Station and RGV Centralized Processing Center\u00a0before meeting with CBP agents and National Guard personnel on the frontlines. \u00a0\nHere are my takeaways:\n We need to reallocate funding to border security.\u00a0 Rio Grande Valley CBP apprehended over 250,000 illegal immigrants in FY14 with only 3,000 agents and an operational budget of less than $20 million.\u00a0 Those numbers are woefully insufficient.\u00a0\n  According to Senator Tom Coburn\u2019s latest Wastebook, the federal government spends over 4 times more ($90 million) on \u201cpromoting U.S. culture around the globe with nose flutists.\u201d \u00a0That is $70 million more than the RGV sector\u2019s operational budget.\n\tThe President authorized sending more U.S. troops to West Africa to fight Ebola (3,200) than the 3,000 CBP folks we have fighting human smuggling and drug trafficking along the Rio Grande.\u00a0 It\u2019s a credit to the professionalism of CBP that it can do so much with so little.\u00a0 A modest reallocation from lesser priorities would go a long way toward securing our country.\n\tLeaked DHS\u00a0figures indicate that 231 individuals were caught\u00a0illegally crossing into the United States from Liberia, 145 from Sierra Leone, and another 112 from Guinea.\n  The Obama Administration is prioritizing environmental protection over border security.\u00a0 The RGV sector covers 316 miles of border.\u00a0 Protected Wildlife Refuges comprise over 60% of that area.\u00a0 Border Patrol operations are totally hamstrung in Refuge areas by EPA and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regulations, which limit access and provide a safe haven for cartels to smuggle people and drugs. EPA, FWS, and other environmental protection regulations either prohibit or severely limit camera surveillance, lighting, and road access.\u00a0 CBP agents can generally only access these areas on foot or by horse.\u00a0 It is time to place national security above ridiculous and cumbersome environmental regulations.\u00a0\n\t\t\u00a0\n\tAccess and surveillance are key enablers of immigration enforcement.\u00a0 Building double layer fencing along the border is important and required by law.\u00a0 Yet, CBP personnel repeatedly told me that better surveillance and access can really increase effectiveness. Congress and the Obama Administration can increase CBP surveillance capability \u2013 eyes in the sky \u2013 through providing more infrared, electro/optical, and full motion video sensors on fixed, mobile, and airborne platforms.\u00a0 Indeed, RGV leadership told me that providing only 2 or 3 more aerostat surveillance balloons would make a huge difference by greatly expanding coverage.\u00a0 Since this is a national security issue, I intend to introduce provisions in next year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act\u00a0 to authorize a military transfer of surveillance technology to the CBP.\n\t\t\u00a0\n\tArticle 1, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution makes clear that Congress has the authority to create \u201can uniform rule of naturalization\u201d, not the President.\u00a0 With disregard for the Constitution, in June of 2012, President Obama offered \u201cdeferred action\u201d to every illegal immigrant who entered the country before his or her 16th birthday.\u00a0 Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal of illegal immigrants. Simply put, deferred action is a euphemism for not enforcing the law.\u00a0 By June of 2014, the President had offered work permits and delayed action to 862,000 people. \u00a0The President\u2019s unconstitutional \u201cdeferred action\u201d policies incentivized mass waves of illegal immigration.\n\t\tNow, the President wants to drastically increase his unconstitutional policy and expand deferred action to cover 34 million illegal immigrants over 5 years.\u00a0 According to CBP prediction models, the President\u2019s upcoming amnesty by executive order will exacerbate border security problems.\u00a0 Even talking about further deferred action executive orders will spur massive illegal immigration.\u00a0 Without any further amnesty, CBP projects it will apprehend 200,000 illegal immigrants in FY15 in the RGV sector alone.\u00a0 Yet, RGV leadership told me that deferred action expansion \u2013 amnesty for up to 34 million illegal immigrants \u2013 would increase predicted apprehensions by 100,000 this fiscal year.\u00a0\n\t\tRemember, apprehensions only cover the people who are caught and detained.\u00a0 The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office reports that CBP only apprehends 1 out of 5 illegals that cross the border.\u00a0 According to CBP officials, every communication from elected officials, including President Obama, regarding amnesty or border security is monitored by transnational criminal organizations that smuggle humans.\u00a0 These communications are used to encourage or discourage more illegal immigration.\n\t\t\u00a0\n\tThreatening to cut foreign aid provides leverage that will cause Mexico and Central American governments to act responsibly regarding illegal immigration.\u00a0 The U.S. provides nearly $170 million in annual foreign aid to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.\u00a0 Foreign aid to Mexico is $265 million.\u00a0 During the high point of the UAC crisis, the U.S. House passed H.R. 5230, which included Congressman Blackburn\u2019s language to suspend foreign aid to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador until those countries made significant progress to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States. RGV leadership told me that H.R. 5230 had a dramatic effect on the behavior of consular officials from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.\u00a0 The mere threat of congressional action caused these consular officials to tell illegal immigrants to stay home once deported rather than try to cross the border again and again.\u00a0 According to NPR, the Mexican government is paying fees for attorneys who assist deferred action applicants in the United States.\u00a0 The Mexican government prefers welfare provided by the U.S. taxpayer.\u00a0 Foreign aide should be cut in response to this action.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://web.archive.org/web/20141030220745/http://bridenstine.house.gov/media-center/blog-posts/congressman-jim-bridenstine-visits-southern-border"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.542258869856596, "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"}