Letter to Gary Peters, Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Sen. Johnson Leads Colleagues in Demanding Chairman Peters Hold Hearings on Biden Border Crisis

Letter

Dear Chairman Peters:

The Biden Administration recently announced plans to terminate the Title 42 border restrictions by May 23, 2022. In addition, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are in the process of finalizing a regulation that completely upends the asylum process. The implications of both of these decisions will undoubtedly lead to a surge of migrants at our southern border. It is unclear whether the Biden Administration has plans to respond effectively to the expected surge of illegal immigration that will result from these policy decisions this spring and summer. We write to request that you immediately convene a public hearing to examine the Biden Administration's termination of the Title 42 border restrictions and other border enforcement policies.

Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended approximately 7,000 illegal immigrants per day at the southern border, which amounts to approximately 217,000 for the entire month. CBP returned approximately 41 percent of those individuals in March under Title 42. With the Biden Administration's termination of Title 42 border restrictions, Border Patrol officials are reportedly predicting a flow of illegal immigration that will lead to as many as 18,000 apprehensions per day. This surge of illegal immigration is unconscionable, and it is unclear whether or how an already overrun CBP will be able to safely and effectively respond to this expected surge.

The Biden Administration's policies are directly contributing to the historic levels of illegal immigration. Administration officials must explain to the American people the rationale for their decisions, and what their plans are to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Since the beginning of the 117th Congress, members of this Committee have repeatedly raised the need for the Committee to conduct oversight of the crisis at the southern border. Under your leadership, however, the full Committee has only had one border-related hearing, and thus has failed to carry out its responsibility to conduct meaningful oversight of the southern border crisis.

Accordingly, we request you call a much-needed hearing to discuss how the Biden Administration plans to deal with the massive surge of illegal immigration that will result from their policies. We further request that the following witnesses testify at this hearing:

Merrick Garland, Attorney General;
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security;
Rochelle Walensky, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
Ur Jaddou, USCIS Director;
Tae Johnson, ICE Director;
MaryAnn Tierney, Head of the Southwest Border Coordination Group; and
Chris Magnus, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
We appreciate your attention on this important matter.

Sincerely,