House announces first hearing on ‘Biden Border Crisis’ as GOP kick-starts investigations
Cami Mondeaux
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The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold its first hearing on the southern border crisis this week, kick-starting a number of GOP-led investigations into the Biden administration over the next two years.
The Judiciary Committee will hold its first hearing titled “Biden’s Border Crisis — Part One” on Wednesday, which will examine the current state of security at the southern border, as well as the smuggling of fentanyl that has killed tens of thousands of Americans over the past few years. The hearing will feature testimony from a number of witnesses, including local officials from border towns.
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“The Biden Administration’s deliberate actions are fueling human smuggling, stimulating drug cartel operations, enabling deadly drugs such as fentanyl to flow into American communities, and encouraging illegal immigrants to flout U.S. immigration laws,” Judiciary Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said earlier this month. “Republicans will hold the Biden Administration accountable for this ongoing humanitarian, national security, and public health crisis that has turned every town into a border town.”
Republicans have long vowed to investigate the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis, particularly as the White House seeks to terminate the Trump-era Title 42 immigration policy. The immigration policy was set to expire in late December but has since been extended by the Supreme Court after an emergency plea from 19 Republican-led states urging the court to keep the Trump-era policy.
Title 42 was enacted in 2020 under the Trump administration in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. Under the public health order, border agents were permitted to expel immigrants immediately upon encountering them.
Border Patrol agents made a record-breaking 2.3 million immigrant encounters during the 2022 fiscal year, according to Customs Border and Protection. But that number is expected to be even higher over the next fiscal year, especially if Title 42 is lifted.
Shortly after winning the House majority in November, Republicans began demanding Homeland Security officials preserve documents pertaining to the border, with some GOP lawmakers considering impeaching DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
House Republicans are preparing to hold another hearing on the border crisis in early February, requesting the testimony of four Border Patrol chief patrol agents. However, Mayorkas blocked requests to have the agents testify before Congress.
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“DHS’s internal protocols are not binding on Congress, and it is irrelevant whether DHS disagrees with the Committee’s determination that these four law enforcement professionals should testify at a Committee hearing,” Comer said last week. “It is unfortunate that you are trying to prevent the American people from hearing candid and truthful testimony of U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agents. This is necessary oversight, which you and your Department are attempting to block.”
Should the agents have provided testimony, they were expected to share details about their experiences working through the COVID-19 pandemic amid the country’s highest rates of illegal immigration. It is not yet clear who will testify in their place.