WASHINGTON, D.C.—This week, New Democrat Coalition (NDC) Immigration and Border Security Task Force Chair Greg Stanton (AZ-04) and Vice Chairs Salud Carbajal (CA-24) and Lou Correa (CA-46) made clear that they will help ensure the Biden-Harris Administration has the necessary resources to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and stand ready to support additional border security funding through the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations process and potentially a supplemental funding bill.
28 Members signed a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young, which reads in part:
“[W]e are united in our belief that comprehensive immigration reform is the only long-term solution to our border challenges. However, in this moment, we recognize the need for additional resources in the near-term. We stand ready to provide the funding required to maintain a secure, humane and orderly process at the southern border in the months ahead.”
The letter emphasizes that although crossings at the border have been steady since the end of Title 42, Congress must ensure the Administration has the resources to meet future challenges. That’s why New Dems are pushing to increase U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) staff, implement innovative technologies, and deliver additional resources to the border that will help improve humanitarian outcomes, interrupt trafficking networks, and streamline immigration processes.
“We hope our Republican colleagues join us to reach a workable solution,” Task Force Chair Stanton said. “Their current proposal would only make matters worse by gutting funding for refugee processing and humanitarian assistance.”
You can read the full letter to OMB Director Young here and below:
------
Dear Director Young:
We write to you today to ensure the Administration has the resources it needs to effectively manage our southern border.
Although migrant encounters at the southern border have remained relatively steady since the end of Title 42, we face significant challenges that—if left unaddressed—jeopardize our preparedness for a future surge. Historic levels of global migration, the persistence of transnational criminal organizations trafficking fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the United States, and a steadily growing backlog of immigration cases make it clear: now is not the time to let our guard down.
As members of the New Democrat Coalition, we are united in our belief that comprehensive immigration reform is the only long-term solution to our border challenges. However, in this moment, we recognize the need for additional resources in the near-term. We stand ready to provide the funding required to maintain a secure, humane and orderly process at the southern border in the months ahead.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encounters a daily average of 3,400 migrants between ports of entry, oftentimes at dangerous crossing points that put lives at risk. In May alone, CBP encountered more than 200,000 migrants along the southern border—approximately 10,000 of which were unaccompanied children. U.S. authorities estimate more than 100,000 migrants wait in Mexico to cross. High levels of irregular migration strain our already-broken immigration system and contribute to lengthy processing times for asylum claims.
Meanwhile, federal agents have seized more than 19,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl at the border so far this year, the vast majority of which was confiscated at official ports of entry. That is more illicit fentanyl than CBP intercepted in all of 2022. Each of us has seen firsthand the devastating impact fentanyl has had in the communities we represent. We urge the Administration to continue to increase opioid interdiction rates.
We are prepared to initiate legislation to provide the Administration funding to increase CBP staff, implement innovative technologies, and deliver additional resources to the border that help improve humanitarian outcomes, interrupt trafficking networks, and streamline immigration processes. We are ready and willing to work with you through the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process—including on a potential supplemental funding bill—to achieve our shared goals.
We must have an efficient, effective and humane immigration system. Those who arrive at our borders deserve no less. We must also protect our nation’s people from the external threats we face—that starts with secure borders. These responsibilities are not mutually exclusive, and we hope the Administration will work with us to ensure we fulfill both.