Judiciary Republicans Demand Committee Finally Do Its Job, Hold Hearings on Border Crisis

WASHINGTON – Every Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is demanding that Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) finally convene hearings on the historic border crisis that has continued for months.

 

“It is time for this Committee’s willful blindness to the situation at our southern border to come to an end. It is not a ‘challenge,’ and it is not ‘seasonal.’ It is a crisis of historic and monumental proportions that deserves this Committee’s immediate attention,” the senators wrote. “No matter how much the Committee majority may want to ignore the crisis at the southern border and neglect its responsibilities to conduct oversight of the Biden Administration’s immigration policies, it can do so no longer.”

 

After months of record-breaking numbers of illegal border crossings, the Senate Judiciary Committee has held no hearings and made no effort to secure testimony from the Biden Administration officials charged with handling the crisis.

 

There have been more than one million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border since President Biden’s inauguration and reports of dramatic increases in encounters with individuals with criminal records within numerous sectors of the southern border. Border communities have been completely overwhelmed by both total numbers of migrants released into their cities as well as the number of migrants released after testing positive for COVID-19. Even the National Farm Bureau Federation and all 50 state Farm Bureaus have pressed for changes as farmers and ranchers on the border face property destruction and personal safety concerns.

 

In the 115th and 116th Congresses, when Republicans held the senate majority and the White House, Chairmen Grassley and Graham held numerous hearings related to the oversight of immigration enforcement, administration and controversies—including many on topics of interest to the Democratic minority, including “Oversight of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security,” “Oversight of the Administration’s Decision to End Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” and “The Humanitarian and Security Crisis at our Southern Border.” Grassley and Sen. John Cornyn first sought a full committee or subcommittee hearing months ago. 

 

The letter is signed by Grassley and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

 

Full text of the letter to Chairman Durbin can be found HERE.

 

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