by Veronika Kyrylenko, Ph.D.
Twitter: @niki_kyrylenko
Last Thursday, U.S. Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) released a report exposing the impact of the Biden administration’s border policies. The 36-page white paper, titled “America Invaded: How the Biden-Harris Border Crisis Is Fundamentally Transforming the United States,” provides a detailed account of the devastating effects caused by the surge in illegal immigration.
The executive summary of the report says that the goal of the document is to lay out
the breadth and depth of the continuing damage to our country — which has morphed from a strong nation built on the rule of law that welcomes immigrants in accordance with that law, to a lawless, dangerous, and unrecognizable collection of individuals without common bond.
It also underscores “the need for immediate legislative reforms and executive action to save America.”
The Scope of the Invasion
Quoting official government data, the report details:
Since January 2021, over 8.5 million illegal aliens have crossed the southern border, which is greater than the population of 37 U.S. states. …
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released more than 5.6 million illegal aliens into the interior of the country, at least one million of whom were admitted through parole alone. Impeached DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted in a January 2024 news interview that over 85% of illegal aliens encountered at the southern border are released into the interior. In addition, at least 1.9 million “got-aways” have entered the country — evading Border Patrol completely. Taken together, at least 7.5 million illegal aliens crossing the southern border have either been released purposefully into the U.S. or evaded capture since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office. [Emphasis in original.]
Furthermore, the administration is struggling to keep track of the significant number of aliens encountered and released. Between March 2021 and August 2022, at least 177,000 aliens released into the interior could not be found. That is 18 percent of all encounters.
Fentanyl Overdoses
The report highlights the surge of violent crime and dangerous drugs brought into the country with illegals.
Fentanyl overdoses, driven by Mexican cartels and chemical ingredients sourced from China, claimed the lives of more than 75,000 Americans in 2023 alone, says the report. That equates to an average of over 200 deaths a day:
Since the Biden-Harris administration took office, fentanyl has poured across the border in record numbers. In FY 2021, 11,200 pounds of fentanyl was seized — more than the three previous years combined. That skyrocketed to over 26,700 pounds in FY 2023 (a 138% increase), enough to kill every American 18 times over.
Fentanyl overdoses have become a leading cause of death of Americans aged 18 to 45, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The document also quotes the heartbreaking case of a one-year-old child who died as a result of fentanyl exposure at a nursery in Bronx, New York. Three other children were hospitalized after exposure.
Violent Crime
The report describes heinous crimes committed by illegals, such as the murders of Laken Riley, Kayla Hamilton, and Jocelyn Nungaray. It quotes numerous media reports on murders committed by those apprehended at the border and then released into the country.
Overall, according to the report,
In Fiscal Year 2021, Border Patrol agents encountered 10,763 aliens with criminal convictions — a 341% surge from FY 2020. In FY 2022, 12,028 criminal alien arrests were effectuated. In FY 2023, border agents apprehended 15,267 criminals. With two months left in FY 2024, 14,697 arrests of criminal aliens have been effectuated, nearly surpassing the arrests made the previous year.
As many as 950,000 violent criminals remain unidentified, slipping through due to lapses in DNA collection and other critical law enforcement measures.
The report also quotes the increased influx of gang members, including those from the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA), described as an “invading criminal army” by congressional Republicans in their March letter to President Joe Biden.
Terrorist Threat
In fiscal year 2023 alone, a record-breaking total of 169 individuals on the terror watchlist were arrested. However, the report warns, many more may have slipped through unnoticed. In fact, between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, at least 99 individuals on the terror watchlist were released into the U.S. after being apprehended at the southern border.
The report also points out the unseen influx of Chinese nationals:
In FY 2024 so far, a whopping 35,399 Chinese nationals have crossed the southern border, surpassing the combined totals of the past three fiscal years combined. From FY 2020 to FY 2023, we saw [an] 1,800% increase in Chinese illegal alien apprehensions at the southern border.
The Roy team warns that, being America’s “greatest geopolitical foe,” China is potentially looking to infiltrate communities to commit espionage, trade theft, or military operations.
Adding to the risks, “the administration admitted more than 7 million foreign nationals into the country without properly screening them, including failing to conduct interviews or take fingerprints,” says the paper.
Empowering Cartels
The Roy report stresses that drug cartels are taking advantage of the lax border policies to smuggle drugs, children, and foreign nationals from terror-prone countries into the United States.
The financial incentives for these criminal networks are staggering. According to the report, Mexican drug cartels now rake in over $13 billion annually through human trafficking, “subjecting migrants to all forms of abuse.”
Adding to the horror, the DHS recently disclosed, the administration has lost track of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant children, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking, sexual exploitation, and forced labor.
A few chapters of the report detail the financial burden of the influx of illegal immigration. It highlights emergency measures such as Operation Lone Star in Texas; hefty expenses on lodging, healthcare, and education; and payments to nonprofit organizations that facilitate the crisis at the border.
Biden-Harris Policies
At the heart of the crisis, the report argues, are the policies implemented by the Biden-Harris administration. Early in Biden’s presidency, he called for a 100-day moratorium on deportations, protecting sanctuary cities from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, and encouraging asylum seekers to “surge” to the U.S.-Mexico border. These actions, Roy argues, emboldened those seeking to enter the country illegally, as they believed they would face little to no resistance.
Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, was appointed as the administration’s “border czar” and tasked with addressing the root causes of migration. However, the Roy report asserts, Biden-Harris policies have only worsened the situation. Despite mounting concerns from the American public and even some of their own Democratic allies, the administration’s handling of the crisis has drawn widespread criticism. Now, due to her presidential run, Harris has awkwardly distanced herself from the policies she once championed.
Political Crisis
According to the Roy report, the border crisis has been exacerbated by political motives. The Democratic Party, it argues, seeks to build a voter base dependent on state benefits by enabling illegal immigrants to enter and remain in the United States. Critics of the administration’s policies have called for legislation such as the H.R. 8281, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act,” which would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The report concludes with a call for urgent action, including the passage of H.R. 2, the “Secure the Border Act,” to address what it describes as the worst border crisis in recent U.S. history. As the border crisis continues to strain the nation, the report’s urgent warnings about the future of U.S. immigration policy are sure to intensify the ongoing political debate, especially on the eve of the Harris-Trump debate on Tuesday.