FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2025
"It's Critical the Republican Majority Do What the People Elected Us to Do:" Chairman Green Opens Markup for Homeland Security Reconciliation Recommendations
WASHINGTON D.C. –– Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) delivered the following opening statement during a markup of budget reconciliation recommendations, which will provide funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s primary border security mission, among other provisions.
As prepared for delivery:
On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden launched a relentless, four-year campaign to obliterate America’s sovereign borders. On his very first day in office, he ordered a halt to construction of new border wall system that American taxpayers had already paid for. He imposed a pause on deportations. And he sent Congress a radical proposal to grant mass amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.
That was just the beginning.
Behind closed doors, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris worked with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to orchestrate a systematic breakdown of our immigration enforcement system. The Biden-Harris administration implemented a nationwide policy of mass “catch and release” at our borders, allowing millions of illegal aliens to flood across the border only to be promptly released into American communities. Then came the illegal “mass-parole” programs, which enabled millions more aliens to bypass U.S. immigration laws altogether.
The world quickly learned that under the Biden-Harris administration, America’s borders were wide open. The consequences were staggering. During his administration, the number of inadmissible encounters at our borders nationwide, combined with the number of gotaways recorded by Customs and Border Protection, was roughly 13 million—around quadruple the number during President Trump’s first term.
Any semblance of border security was eliminated, despite the best efforts of our dedicated Border Patrol agents to control the chaos. These agents were forced to process and mass-release tens of thousands of illegal aliens each month into American communities, diverting them from their core border security mission and devastating morale at the same time. Subsequently, illicit fentanyl poured across our open Southwest border at historic levels. Just as alarming, the number of individuals on the terrorist watchlist apprehended at the border between ports of entry increased, from just 11 between Fiscal Years 2017 and 2020, to a staggering 385 from FY2021-FY2024.
Interior enforcement was also gutted, with ICE personnel effectively barred from removing the vast majority of those here illegally. Deportations plummeted to record lows, even as illegal crossings surged to record highs. One former ICE field director put it plainly: “I was being forced to release people that should not have been allowed on the street. They continue to release people from custody like it’s a revolving door.”
Last Congress, Republicans took decisive action to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable for its blatant dereliction of duty. We impeached Secretary Mayorkas for his willful refusal to follow the law and his breach of the public trust. We also passed H.R. 2, the “Secure the Border Act”—a landmark bill that would re-secure our border, end the crisis, and prevent another one in the future.
Unfortunately, the White House and Democrats in the Senate refused to take action—and they paid the price last November.
There’s new light shining now, though. President Trump was resoundingly elected, in large part because he promised to clean up the Biden-Harris administration’s border catastrophe.
And he has kept that promise. Catch and release is over. Border Patrol agents are returning to the frontlines, empowered to enforce the law. Additionally, scores of criminal aliens are being detained and deported in growing numbers from our communities daily. Law and order are returning to our communities.
Apprehensions at our borders have plummeted to never-before-seen levels. To put things in perspective, in December 2023, CBP recorded more than 301,000 encounters at the Southwest border, the highest monthly total in history. By March 2025, the number of apprehensions fell 96 percent, to a mere 11,000. A 96-percent decrease!
Remember the nonsense from the Biden-Harris administration, and from many congressional Democrats, about the so-called “root causes” of the Biden border crisis? “Climate change!” “Poverty!” “Gang violence!” Give me a break.
These numbers expose those “excuses” as politically motivated B.S. I’m pretty sure the weather hasn’t changed that much under President Trump. Unfortunately, much of the world still lives in abject poverty and gangs like Tren de Aragua are still very active in our hemisphere.
No, what changed was the White House fulfilling its Constitutional responsibility to enforce and executive the laws passed by Congress.
That’s why the budget recommendations we are marking up today are so important. As Joe Biden proved, effective executive action to secure the border can be done away with by subsequent presidents.
It is critical that the Republican majority do what the people elected us to do—approve funds for effective border security and enforcement measures.
That’s what these recommendations do. First, they empower us to finish construction of new, strategically placed border barrier system. This system includes not just the steel and concrete bollards, but a full suite of technology and infrastructure, such as lights, sensors, cameras, and access roads, giving agents the tools they need to secure the border and do their jobs safely and effectively.
Today, you’ll no doubt hear our friends on the other side of the dais, who have never served in the Border Patrol, criticize the wall. Yet, according to a survey by the National Border Patrol Council, 89 percent of agents believe a “wall system in strategic locations is necessary to securing the border.”
Former San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke told our Committee that the border wall system “slows down the people as they come across, and so we have more time to respond and actually make an apprehension.”
Who do you trust—politicians opining from air-conditioned offices, or the men and women on the ground?
We’re also spending money on new Border Patrol checkpoints and facilities. Several chief patrol agents told us in 2023 how important these checkpoints are, as they help agents intercept drugs that make it across the border. Under Biden and Harris, some of these were shut down as agents were pulled away from their jobs. Under President Trump, not only will these increases in funds put more agents back on the line, but we’re going to increase their ability to catch these drugs.
We’re also investing in hiring more Border Patrol agents, Customs officers, and Air and Marine agents. Right now, the CBP force is not the size it needs to be. Republicans have heard their concerns and are stepping up to change that.
We are also investing in cutting-edge technology to help agents and officers interdict illicit drugs like fentanyl being smuggled through ports of entry. We are modernizing and enhancing our border security and surveillance technologies. Technologies such as drones and surveillance towers are used as a force-multiplier, giving Border Patrol agents greater visibility, faster response times, and enhanced coverage across vast, hard-to-patrol areas of the Southwest border.
This bill will invest in Operation Stonegarden, a grant program designed to help states and local communities enhance their own border security.
And while the Biden-Harris administration spent your money bailing out sanctuary cities and states that helped them execute their open-borders schemes, Republicans are going to ensure that those states who spent the past four years trying to mitigate the crisis can obtain at least some financial relief.
So, while Democrats will most likely spend this markup complaining about Elon Musk or DOGE, or defending deported gang members and wife beaters like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Republicans are focused on what actually matters—provide proper funding so that CBP officers and agents can protect our country and secure the homeland. We have a historic opportunity to make the country we love safer and more secure.
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