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Pete Ricketts U.S. Senator for Nebraska
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Illegal immigration open border policies deadliest in American history

Pete Ricketts U.S. Senator for Nebraska
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Many Americans rank security at the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policy among their top political concerns. While the partisan debate rages on about whether the U.S. should welcome more immigrants or fewer immigrants, other important issues — like the trafficking of deadly fentanyl — continue to fuel popular concerns about border security.

Straight Arrow News contributor Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., contends that the federal government holds a fundamental duty to safeguard our borders and protect Americans. He argues that the president’s reluctance to enforce immigration laws is directly responsible for a range of issues, including crime, human trafficking, the proliferation of fentanyl, the parole crisis and other dangers stemming from Biden’s open border policies.

Because of his failed policies, every state is a border state. By contrast, President Trump’s border policies brought illegal border crossings to a 45-year low.

So how did we get here? Well, instead of continuing the last administration’s successes, Joe Biden reversed them. In the first 100 days in office, Joe Biden issued 94 executive orders undoing Trump’s border policies. President Trump had built nearly 500 miles of border wall. President Biden signed an executive order stopping it. President Trump detained illegal aliens seeking asylum. President Biden has allowed the abuse with them to explode. President Trump prioritized immigration enforcement. He had also gone after sanctuary cities that refused to enforce the law. President Biden signed an executive order repealing it. In addition, President Biden has abused a parole authority to let more illegal immigrants into this country, a literal catch-and-release policy.

Under President Trump and President Obama, an average of 5,600 people each year were granted parole. In the last fiscal year alone, President Biden gave parole to 1.2 million people coming to our country illegally. Our parole system is supposed to be about individuals with special circumstances. Wanting a better job is not a legitimate reason to get asylum. And what did Joe Biden’s open border policies give us? Those policies create a national security, humanitarian and drug catastrophe at our southern border.


Senator Ricketts is the son of SAN owner Joe Ricketts.

Joe Biden’s open border policies are the deadliest and most dangerous in American history.

Because of his failed policies, every state is a border state. By contrast, President Trump’s border policies brought illegal border crossings to a 45 year low. So how do we get here? Well, instead of continuing the last administration successes, Joe Biden reverse them. In the first 100 days of office, Joe Biden issued 94 executive orders undoing Trump’s border policies. President Trump had built nearly 500 miles of border wall, President Biden signed an executive order stopping President Trump detained illegal aliens seeking asylum. President Biden has allowed the abuse with them to explode. President Trump prioritize immigration enforcement. He had also gone after sanctuary cities that refused to enforce the law. President Biden signed an executive order repealing it. In addition, President Biden has abused as a parole authority to let more illegal immigrants into this country, a literal catch and release policy. Under President Trump and President Obama, an average of 5600 people each year were granted parole. In the last fiscal year alone, President Biden gave parole to 1.2 million people coming to our country illegally. Our parole system is supposed to be about individuals with special circumstances. wanting a better job is not a legitimate reason to get asylum. And what did Joe Biden’s open border policies give us those policies create a national security humanitarian and drug catastrophe at our southern border. Just a few years ago, we had single digit border encounters with people on the FBIs terrorist watch list. Last year, law enforcement encountered 169 people on the terrorist watch list at our southern border. And those are just the ones we caught. People from all over the world are crossing illegally, including from Iran and Syria. Over 24,000 Chinese nationals crossed the border last year. Joe Biden’s open border policies have also created a humanitarian crisis. Oh over the last year, we saw the highest daily crossings total ever, the highest monthly crossings total ever and the highest yearly crossings total ever. Altogether. There have been over 9 million encounters at our southern border since Joe Biden became president. 9 million people is more than the population of New York City. Think about that. A New York City sized amount of illegal immigrant crossings just since Joe Biden became president. Biden’s open door open border policies allow cartels to exploit vulnerable children and adults from around the world. We know human traffickers are forcing children to pose as family members of single adults to improve that adults chances of getting asylum. I’ve been to the border four times. I saw this dynamic firsthand during my last trip in October. One man was claiming to be the father of a 10 year old girl. She was terrified and clearly not his daughter. Later he changed his story to say that he was her uncle. Border Patrol agents told us they used to be able to do DNA testing when they were suspicious. Inexplicably, the Biden administration has ended DNA testing at the border. Now CBP personnel tell me they have no way to verify their suspicions, or even take action to protect little girls, like the one I saw. Familiar DNA testing was originally implemented by the Trump administration to determine the relationship between illegal immigrants and any accompanying children. It played a vital role in combating and deterring child trafficking. Removing it only incentivizes child trafficking in our border. The Chinese Communist Party and Mexican drug cartels are also taking advantage of Joe Biden’s open border policies. They’re surging the flow of fentanyl into the US. This fentanyl is killing Americans. Terribly Griffith was a 24 year old single mom from Nebraska, who died in 2021 of a fentanyl overdose. Taryn took a pill, she thought it was Percocet. Instead it was a counterfeit laced with fentanyl. And it killed her. Now her daughters will have to get to know their mom through pictures and family stories. The leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45 is fentanyl. precursors of fentanyl are being shipped from the People’s Republic of China to Mexico. They’re it’s manufactured into fentanyl in illegal labs and smuggled across our border. We must do better. We need to pass a border bill that forces Biden to secure our border. We need to stop his mass parole of illegal aliens and end the national security and humanitarian crisis he created. We need to end the abuse of asylum and parole. We need to finish the border wall. The federal government has a fundamental responsibility to secure our borders and keep Americans safe. President Biden and his administration have failed to do that. His open border policies continue to incentivize people to come here illegally. His abuse of parole authority allows illegal aliens to be released into the country at a staggering rate. At the end of the day, the responsibility for this catastrophe lies squarely on the shoulders of President Biden. His refusal to enforce our immigration laws makes him responsible for every case of human trafficking, sex trafficking, child trafficking, and drug trafficking that comes across our border. Securing our southern border is a national security and humanitarian necessity. Joe Biden must reverse his open border policy and take action to secure our border.

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