ALEC Board of Directors: Securing Our Nation’s Southern Border Is a National and Homeland Security Imperative

President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We the undersigned legislators, members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, urge you to take immediate Executive Action to secure America’s southern border and to direct your administration to vigorously enforce current laws in order to stem the tide of illegal immigration to the US as both a homeland and a national security imperative. These measures will help to eliminate the scourge of sex trafficking by human smugglers who are abusing migrants seeking to enter the United States.

While many of us serve in the legislatures of border states, every state has suffered the consequences of America’s porous southern frontier. Deadly fentanyl directly subsidized by China is entering the US at our southern border and ravaging our communities by killing thousands of Americans. Fact-finding trips to the US-Mexico border with briefings by US Customs and Border Protection officials has expanded our knowledge about this serious problem that has worsened considerably during your presidency.

On your first day in office, you issued a Proclamation redirecting funds away from border wall construction and issued a moratorium on deportations and immigration enforcement, a declaration that was rejected by the courts, however both measures signaled to the world that our nation’s borders were open to all who could reach them. The lifting of Title 42 restrictions that had permitted three million expulsions from March 2020 until May 2023 only exacerbated the situation. The result was a record 2.5 million encounters on our border with Mexico in 2023 alone, a figure that exceeded the previous record breaking 2022 total which was a 139% increase over 2021.

The second year of your administration saw the replacement of the Notice to Report with the Notice to Appear which was later amended to the Parole plus Alternative to Detention program. These policy shifts caused the Non-Detained Docket to swell to an estimated 4.5 million non-citizens with deportations only beginning to rise last year. The wave of migrants and illegal encounters following each White House announcement made and each Executive Order from the previous administration lifted underscores that your administration’s dangerous rhetoric, failure to enforce current immigration law and misguided suspension of constructive policies has led to an unsustainable crisis on America’s southern border.

In addition to the number of encounters, the change in the composition of migrants is also cause for concern. Historically, most people crossing America’s southern border came from Mexico and northern Central America. However, 2023 saw a sharp increase in migrants from Venezuela and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This shift in country of origin has serious national security implications. Early on in your presidency, you recognized the PRC’s threat potential and are obviously aware that Venezuela is deepening its ties to Iran and Russia, acknowledged adversaries, as well as to China.

From Texas and Florida to New York City and Chicago, the migration surge is straining law enforcement and social service agencies to the breaking point. Congress has pleaded with you to act, and now ALEC members who represent 60 million hardworking Americans from all 50 states are calling on you to address this national emergency at the US-Mexico frontier through Executive Action, if necessary.

Signed,

The ALEC Board of Directors

ALEC National Chair, Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson

Arizona Senator TJ Shope

Arkansas Senator Jim Dotson

Florida Speaker Designate Daniel Perez

Florida Representative Demi Busatta

Georgia Representative John Carson

Indiana Senator Jim Buck

Idaho Representative Sage Dixon

Iowa Speaker Pro Tempore John Wills

Kentucky Representative Kim Moser

Maine Senator Trey Stewart

Michigan House Minority Leader Matt Hall

Mississippi Senator Josh Harkins

North Carolina Representative Jason Saine

Oklahoma Senator Julie Daniels

Ohio Senator Rob McColley

Ohio Representative Bill Seitz

Pennsylvania Representative Seth Grove

Tennessee Representative Susan Lynn

Texas Senator Phil King

Utah Senate President Stuart Adams

Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears

West Virginia Senator Patricia Rucker

Wyoming Senator Dan Laursen