Romney Pushes Back on Biden Administration’s Disastrous Border Policies

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC)’s Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight, joined his colleagues in sending three letters pushing back on the Biden Administration’s disastrous border policies. Summaries and excerpts from the letters can be found below:

Urging President Biden to Rescind Mass Amnesty Executive Order
In a letter to President Biden, Romney and his colleagues express concerns regarding an Executive Order that would offer amnesty to illegal aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States and urge him to rescind this policy. Full text of the letter, led by Senator Lankford (R-OK), can be found here.

“Parole was never intended as a mass amnesty. Your actions fly in the face of the clear reading of the law. Due to reckless policies, your Administration has encountered more illegal aliens at the southern border than the Obama administration and Trump administration combined,” the senators wrote. “DHS recently promulgated regulations that appear to tighten the border, but the implementing policy guidance, the DHS website, and the border data since implementation show what all Americans know – the border remains wide open.”

Calling out President Biden for Disastrous Open Border Policies
In a letter to President Biden, Romney and his HSGAC Republican colleagues call out the effects of President Biden’s open border policies on our national security. The letter cites an allegedly leaked memo instructing U.S. Border Patrol agents to release migrants into the U.S. despite the President issuing an Executive Order barring migrants who cross the Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. Full text of the letter, led by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), can be found here.

“Just days after you announced executive action that purports to crack down on illegal immigration, it appears that your administration is still intent on continuing to disregard and undermine not only established immigration law, but also your own executive order. The intent here is clear: the executive order was…designed to change the narrative around the border crisis you created, while this new U.S. Border Patrol memo maintains your status quo of purposeful action to create a wide-open border and encourage historic illegal immigration,” the senators wrote.

Requesting Hearing on Threat of Terrorists Exploiting the Southern Border
In a letter to Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of HSGAC, Romney and his HSGAC Republican colleagues request a hearing to examine the threat of terrorists exploiting the unsecured southern border. The letter outlines how the border security crisis has allowed potential terrorists to gain entry into the United States and threaten our national security. Full text of the letter, led by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of HSGAC, can be found here.

“Faced with elevated threats, it is well past time to hold a public hearing on the danger of terrorism facilitated by easy access across the border,” the senators wrote. “For over three years, members of this Committee have repeatedly sounded the alarm on the need for oversight of the crisis at the Southwest border. The policies implemented by the Biden administration have directly contributed to unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, exposing a vulnerability that bad actors can exploit to enter the country. Therefore, we urge you to convene a critically needed hearing with top officials from the relevant federal agencies to discuss the Biden administration’s strategy for handling the significant increase in terrorists entering the country due to their policies.”