Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) criticized President Joe Biden for the continuous surge in illegal border crossings and the president’s failure to protect the border.
Turner, while speaking on a Sunday interview with Martha Raddatz on ABC News’ “This Week,” accused the Biden administration of encouraging illegal border crossing with its policies.
More than 1.9 million migrants have illegally entered our country in 2023. That’s more than the populations of Columbus, Cincinnati, & Dayton combined.
I told @ThisWeekABC’s @MarthaRaddatz that President Biden’s open-door immigration policies are making the border crisis worse. pic.twitter.com/1l8CkG62T6
— US Rep. Mike Turner (@RepMikeTurner) September 24, 2023
“The Biden administration has been encouraging, and the manner in which they have — have provided assistance to migrants, not really communicating that our borders should be closed,” Turner said. “Instead, (The) have been encouraging an open border policy,” Turner said. “You know, this is a national security and an economic security threat. On national security, we’ve seen individuals on the terrorist watch list be apprehended. We certainly see fentanyl and other drugs coming across the border. On economic security, you even have the mayor of New York saying that it’s destroying his city.”
Turner maintained that the 1.9 million illegal migrants that have crossed the border over the last year indicate that the border is wide open.
“That’s more people that live in the cities of Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton, Ohio, and southeast Ohio, combined,” he said. “These numbers speak for themselves. They surely show that the administration’s policies encouraging people to come across the border. We need to stop this.”
The Ohio lawmaker noted how the Biden administration has provided 200,000 Venezuelans temporary protective status, which includes that they cannot be deported and work privileges.
“If we had the right policies, they wouldn’t be here. By providing them these — the open assistance, what you’re seeing is an encouragement for others to come,” Turner added.
Turner revealed that Biden’s border failure is why House Republicans are proposing House Bill 2. According to Turner, the bill will put physical barriers on the border, hire more agents to protect the border and change the U.S. asylum rules.
“House Bill 2 makes certain that we close the border for immigration This migrant immigration makes certain that we provide border security and at the same time change our asylum rules to give us the legal tools to send people home,” Turner added.
