Wagner Votes for Bill to Combat Biden Border Crisis, Protect Communities from Illegal Immigration

Washington, D.C.  –  Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO), Chair of the House Suburban Caucus, released the following statement after she voted in support of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act:

“It is undeniable there is a crisis at our southern border.  Joe Biden’s reckless immigration policies have created this catastrophe, and he has done everything he can to ignore the countless lives impacted.  In just two years, over five million migrants have crossed our southern border, in addition to over 1 million known gotaways. That’s equal to the entire population of Missouri.  Gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers, and other violent criminals are trying to illegally cross the border and take up shop in our communities and neighborhoods, putting the lives of innocent families at risk.  The Secure the Border Act does what Joe Biden won’t do, protect our nation from these criminals, restart construction of the border wall, and combat the exploitation of innocent children that has hurt so many victims.”

Congresswoman Wagner spoke on the House Floor urging passage of the Secure the Border Act today and you can watch her full speech here. 

Key provisions of the Secure the Border Act

• Requires an immediate restart of border wall construction using previously appropriated and unexpired funds that the Biden administration irresponsibly cancelled on January 20, 2021.
• Supports Border Patrol agents by providing retention bonuses and hiring 22,000 Border Patrol agents (nearly 3,000 more than is currently on the force). Additionally, these agents will return to their law enforcement mission in the field rather than process illegal immigrants in a patrol station.
• Addresses the immigration court backlog by strengthening and streamlining the asylum process, ensuring that those with valid claims of asylum are protected and adjudicated in a timely manner, and making frivolous claims easier to kick out of the country.
• Combats the exploitation and trafficking of unaccompanied children by treating all children equally under the law (regardless of their home country), while ensuring they are not victims of trafficking.
• Ends “catch and release” by ensuring that detention for the pendency of their immigration court proceedings, removal, or a Remain-in-Mexico type program are the only options for those who illegally cross the border.
• Authorizes the Secretary of State to negotiate “Remain-in-Mexico” type policies with Mexico and asylum cooperative agreements between the U.S., Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries in the Western Hemisphere.
• Ends the Biden Administration’s abuse of executive immigration parole authority.
• Creates penalties for visa overstays that are equal to the criminal penalties for illegally crossing the border.