Grothman Opens Hearing on the Cost of the Biden-Harris Border Crisis

WASHINGTON—Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) today opened a hearing titled “The Border Crisis: The Cost of Chaos” by outlining how the Biden-Harris Administration created the worst border crisis in U.S. history. The consequences of the Biden-Harris border crisis are felt by every community in the United States. Illegal aliens have gone on to commit violent crimes against Americans and are impacting taxpayer-funded public services, housing, and the job market.  Subcommittee Chairman Grothman emphasized how the Biden-Harris Administration has the tools to end its border crisis, such as reinstating former President Trump’s policies, yet refuses to deploy them.

Below are Subcommittee Chairman Grothman’s remarks as prepared for delivery.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s open border policies have led to the worst border crisis in American history.

Millions of illegal aliens have entered the United States under the Biden-Harris Administration in a short period of time, affecting every community across the country.

This was not the result of so-called root-causes in a few countries in Central America as Vice President and Border Czar, Kamala Harris, who President Biden tasked with “stemming the migration to our southern border,” claimed.

Individuals from all over the world have entered the United States illegally under the Biden-Harris Administration.

In the first seven months of Fiscal Year 2024 nearly half of the inadmissible aliens encountered at the southwest border were from countries other than Mexico, the Northern Triangle Countries and Nicaragua.

This crisis did not result from a lack of authority either. The Biden-Harris Administration has all the tools it needs now to end this crisis.

For example, it can reinstate the Trump Administration’s policies that worked, such as Remain in Mexico and the detention—rather than the mass release—of illegal aliens.

They could continue to build the wall, which a Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent told us is a “force multiplier” in their mission to secure the border.  

The Senate border bill that Vice President Harris vows to sign into law certainly wouldn’t have helped.

It would have codified the catch and release policies of the Biden-Harris Administration that caused this crisis in the first place and allowed up to 1.8 million illegal aliens to enter per year before temporarily closing parts of the border.  

The Biden-Harris Administration’s refusal to secure our border and instead allow millions of poorly vetted aliens from all over the world to be released is not without costs, both human and economic.

Illegal aliens released into the United States by the Biden-Harris Administration have gone on to commit violent crimes against Americans.

These murders, rapes, burglaries, violent assaults should have never happened.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, foreign gangs are running rampant in our communities.

It’s not just MS-13 anymore. According to DHS, a new violent gang has spread from the communist regime of Venezuela, Tren de Aragua across the United States.

Tren de Aragua has been described as MS-13 “on steroids.”

When a mob of illegal aliens stormed the border in El Paso in March, over 100 were found to be suspected members of the gang.

The Biden-Harris Administration has released at least 617,000 illegal aliens with known criminal backgrounds.

That doesn’t even include the 1.9 million illegal aliens who evaded apprehension entirely. We don’t know who these gotaways are, what their criminal histories are, or what intentions they have.

In addition to the real tragic human costs of the border crisis, there are also significant fiscal costs.

Estimates show that despite paying some taxes, illegal aliens are a net fiscal drain on America.

Experts estimate each illegal alien costs the taxpayer roughly $68,000.

They use more public services than they contribute in taxes.

And the Biden-Harris Administration weak job growth numbers are further diluted by the fact that a majority of those jobs have gone to foreign born workers.

In the past 12 months, U.S.-born workers lost more than 1.3 million jobs, while foreign-born workers gained over 1.2 million jobs over the same period.

Working-class Americans are competing with illegal aliens for jobs.

Further, there is already a housing crisis in this country.

Estimates state that the United States is four to seven million housing units short.

So not only do illegal aliens compete with Americans for jobs, but they also compete with Americans for housing.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s mass release of illegal aliens into our country is not in the interest of the American people.

We cannot afford four more years of a chaotic border under the Biden-Harris Administration and its costs to the American people’s physical and financial security.