{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://bridenstine.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=276", "Congressman Jim Bridenstine Visits Southern Border", "2014-10-30", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "OK", "Jim Bridenstine", "B001283", "bridenstine.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Obama Administration is utterly failing to protect American sovereignty and safety. Based on the response at\u00a0my Securing America Town Hall, it's clear many folks in my District understand that border security is national security.\u00a0\r\nLast Friday, I went on a fact-finding visit to the southern border with my friend Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).\u00a0 We visited with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel manning\u00a0the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) sector.\r\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 front lines.\r\nHere are my takeaways:\r\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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, and funds can be reprogrammed from lower priority accounts.\u00a0\r\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Obama Administration is prioritizing environmental protection over border security.\u00a0 Protected Wildlife Refuges comprise over 60% of the RGV area.\u00a0 Border Patrol operations are totally hamstrung in refuge areas by regulations which limit access and provide a safe haven for cartels to smuggle people and drugs.\u00a0\r\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Access and surveillance are key enablers of immigration enforcement.\u00a0 RGV leadership told me that providing only 2 or 3 more aerostat surveillance balloons would make a huge, immediate difference by greatly expanding coverage.\u00a0 Since this is a national security issue, I intend to introduce provisions in next year's National Defense Authorization Act to authorize a military transfer of surveillance technology to the CBP.\u00a0\r\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Article 1, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution makes clear that Congress has the authority to create \"an uniform rule of naturalization\", not the President.\u00a0 The President's unconstitutional \"deferred action\" policies incentivized mass waves of illegal immigration. \u00a0Simply put, deferred action is a euphemism for not enforcing the law.\u00a0 Now, the President wants to drastically expand deferred action to cover 34 million illegal immigrants over 5 years.\u00a0 According to CBP, even talking about further deferred action executive orders will spur massive illegal immigration.\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.\u00a0\r\n5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Threatening to cut foreign aid provides leverage that will cause Mexico and Central American governments to act responsibly regarding illegal immigration.\u00a0 During the high point of the UAC crisis, the U.S. House passed H.R. 5230, which included Congressman Blackburn's 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\r\nCONTACT:  \r\nSheryl Kaufman, Communications Director  \r\nPhone: 202-225-2211  \r\nEmail Address: Sheryl.Kaufman@mail.house.gov\r\n--\u00a0 30\u00a0 --", 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": ["http://bridenstine.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=276"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9311838075518608, "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"}