Securing our southern border cannot wait

In just a few days, Title 42, a measure which allows border agents to automatically turn away migrants without documentation at the border, is set to expire. And when it does, border officials anticipate tens of thousands of migrants per day to come rushing across our southern border, further exacerbating our already unprecedented border crisis. This is unacceptable, and we cannot sit idly by.

The numbers paint a harrowing picture. Since President Biden took office, there have been over 5 million illegal crossings of our southern border, and more than 1.3 million illegal immigrants have evaded apprehension at our southern border. This doesn’t just affect communities along our southern border, but every American community—including Central Washington.

Just last year, over 100,000 people in the United States died from a drug overdose, largely driven by the rampant spread of illicit fentanyl pouring over our southern border at exponential rates. In Washington state, drug overdoses have been increasing at shocking rates and communities across Central Washington have been devastated by the fentanyl crisis. Nationally, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for people ages 18-45. It’s past time for significant action to be taken to curb the fentanyl crisis facing our nation, and that goes hand-in-hand with securing our southern border.

The Biden Administration is not serious about addressing this worsening crisis or bringing forth real solutions to get it under control, and have only continued to signal they will accept illegal immigrants with open