The Biden Administration’s misguided open border policies have led to a historic crisis affecting the entire nation, making every community a border community. Since President Biden took office, there have been more than 5.8 illegal crossings at the southern border. Many illegal immigrants are going to “sanctuary cities,” like New York City, but they’re buckling under the massive influx. Even the progressive New York City Mayor recently stated that the current border policies will “destroy the city.”
The problem has grown so exponentially that even our National Parks are being compromised by the Biden Administration’s policies. To keep up with the influx of migrants in the city (100,000 since spring 2022), New York City has requested that the Department of Interior establish housing for more than 2,000 illegal migrants at Floyd Bennett Field, located in the Gateway National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park System. There was public uproar following this announcement; so much so that New York lawmakers, including four democrats, filed a lawsuit to try and stop the Biden Administration from letting this happen.
Checks and balances are a fundamental aspect of our government. As such, I have an inherent duty to conduct oversight if there is reason to believe that the Administration is abusing federal taxpayer dollars. When I learned about the city of New York and the Biden Administration’s plan to house illegal migrants in National Park Service Sites, I knew I needed to see it for myself to conduct oversight and provide the transparency that the residents of New York City and all Americans deserve.
My colleagues and I visited Floyd Bennett Field and saw firsthand how the Gateway National Recreation area is a great outdoor recreation resource for people to enjoy the great outdoors in the middle of an urban area. One of the few green spots in the city, the site welcomes more than a million visitors a year to enjoy fishing, kayaking, and other activities. But rather than being able to be utilized by New York residents and visitors, the Biden Administration has cut off public access to portions of the park and are turning the site into a migrant camp. All while cutting corners and waiving environmental safeguards in the process. That’s not right.
We also visited the Roosevelt Hotel, one of the sites where illegal migrants are being processed and housed, so we could learn more about the crisis. Despite requesting a tour and providing adequate advance notice of our visit, we were denied access. this is the same site where a group of House Democrats were welcomed and given a full tour just a few days prior. Clearly, the Biden Administration and far-left Democrats would rather put a positive spin on the crisis they’ve created than allow us to conduct meaningful oversight.
My trip to New York City was eye-opening, and it reaffirmed what my colleagues and I have been saying for months: the border is not secure, and the Biden Administration is looking the other way. That’s why I voted to pass H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, to strengthen border security, resume construction of the border wall, and combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking at our southern and northern borders. It’s past due for extreme Senate Democrats to follow suit and pass the Secure the Border Act and President Biden to sign it into law.
