Sen. Cruz Introduces Comprehensive Border Security Amendment to the National Security Supplemental

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced an amendment to the National Security Supplemental to secure our southern border. The amendment is based on a bill Sen. Cruz introduced earlier this year in the Senate, the Secure the Border Act, which includes a comprehensive plan to secure the U.S.-Mexico border by investing resources in both border and interior enforcement. It would provide physical and technological border improvements, manpower assistance to Border Patrol and ICE Enforcement Removal Operations, and protection to families seeking entry at the border as well as unaccompanied alien children. Additionally, Sen. Cruz’s amendment punishes visa overstays, reforms immigration parole, asylum, and the legal immigration workforce issues, and prevents uncontrolled alien flows into the United States.

The companion bill, which passed the House of Representatives as H.R. 2, is the most comprehensive border security legislation in decades. The bill garnered a majority of Republican support in the House of Representatives and was voted out of the House with 219-2 Republican members voting in favor of its passage.

Upon introducing the amendment Sen. Cruz said, “Under Joe Biden’s leadership, we’ve seen the largest illegal immigration crisis in our nation’s history. Every single day, thousands of illegal aliens pour over our southern border and strain our communities. Women are being raped, children brutalized, and over 100,000 Americans are dying every year from narcotics and fentanyl flooding into our country. We cannot turn a blind eye to the perilous invitation the Biden White House continues to freely give out to break our immigration laws. Right now, we are at the greater risk for a major terrorist attack in the United States than we have been at any time since September 11. If we are going to provide aid to secure our allies abroad, we also have an obligation to secure our own border for the safety of our country.”

Chad Wolf, former Acting DHS Secretary and Executive Director of the America First Policy Institute said: “Addressing the Biden Administration’s self-inflicted border crisis demands strategic policy changes, not more spending to process illegal aliens into American communities. The administration’s intentional and ineffective border strategy has created chaos and lawlessness that makes America less safe. Congress must reject the White House supplemental and demand real policy changes that will secure the border. H.R. 2 is a good first step to fix the Biden border crisis, and I stand with Senator Cruz for introducing it in the upper chamber. Because the Biden Administration refuses to use the authority it already has, H.R. 2 is needed to restart the Migrant Protection Protocols, end asylum fraud, curb Mayorkas’s abuse of parole, and discontinue the cruel policies that fuel human trafficking of migrant children. The American people reject open borders and are tired of the administration enabling the drug and human traffickers. America must come first, always.”

Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said: “The Secure the Border Act is critical to regaining control of our southern border. Without real reforms to our asylum policy, detention and removal of illegal aliens, and an end to the Biden Administration’s wholesale abuse of parole, the chaos at our borders and in our cities, and threats to national security, will only grow more dire. Throwing more money at the border crisis won’t solve it. We need real policy reforms and H.R. 2 is the solution. Now is the time to act -- the American people can't afford to wait any longer.”

Kris Ullman, President of Eagle Forum said: “For far too long, illegal immigrants have exploited loopholes in the American immigration system. The Biden administration has been instrumental in causing the havoc we all see at our southern border by allowing historic numbers of illegal immigrants to not only enter the US but to drain resources and overwhelm cities and towns across the country. Republicans in the House united to pass H.R. 2, legislation that provides real solutions to the crisis at hand. It is imperative to support Senator Ted Cruz’s amendment that will add H.R. 2 to the National Security Supplemental.  Anything less than these strong provisions is unacceptable to grassroots Americans who are relying on Congress to provide real border security.

Greg Sindelar, CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation said: “If senators are concerned with protecting innocent lives and communities from deadly terrorist activity, there’s no need to look thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic Ocean. From Laredo to Manhattan, this national security crisis threatens the lives of every American. H.R 2 will bring about the policies that are proven to be successful in keeping our homeland safe.”

Ryan Walker, Executive Vice President of Heritage Action said: "Heritage Action, along with our partners in the strongest border coalition ever assembled, has been clear with our Hill allies throughout this process: H.R. 2 is the only viable solution to the border crisis. This legislation is the floor, not the ceiling, for the policy changes needed to repair the damage caused by the Biden administration."

Read the full text of the amendment here.

###