Over the holidays, the crisis at the southern border continued to surge, sending thousands of illegal immigrants and deadly drugs into our communities. In December, we saw the most encounters at the U.S. border ever recorded in a single month - over 300,000. That's nearly eight times the population of Hot Springs. 

 I visited the southern border in 2021 to survey the disastrous impacts of the border crisis. While my team and I track this issue closely, nothing compares to seeing it in person. I saw first-hand the damage of the Biden Administration’s open border policies. That was over two years ago. Since then, the crisis has grown at a once unimaginable rate, with record-high illegal crossings (including hundreds whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist) and thousands of pounds of illicit drugs pouring over the border and into our own backyards.  

 The disaster at the southern border is happening on the Biden Administration's watch and is a direct result of its radical open border policies. Almost eight months ago, House Republicans passed H.R. 2, the most comprehensive border legislation in history, to secure the border and put an end to this chaos. H.R. 2 would resume construction of the border wall and aggressively combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking coming from Mexico. 

 While Democrats in the Senate refuse to pass H.R. 2, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have also continued to turn a blind eye to the crisis they created. Continued inaction on this issue only welcomes more illegal immigration and drug trafficking in our country, compromising our national security. House Republicans delivered a solution to this problem nearly eight months ago; it's time for the Senate and Biden Administration to take this crisis seriously and follow suit.