Dear Friends,

There has been a lot of toxic rhetoric flying around cable news recently about the immigration crisis on our southwest border. To end this humanitarian crisis, we must focus on the facts, not the noise.

The truth is that this past May, over 144,000 people were apprehended attempting to come into the United States illegally, including 84,000 families and 11,000 children. That is nearly three times the number of total apprehensions in May of 2018. These numbers (in the charts pictured below) are not sustainable and threaten the safety of Americans, families, and children.

*Department of Homeland Security Official May Report

*Calculated from ICE and DHS statistics

I’ve seen firsthand, during my five trips to the southwest border, that our Border Patrol agents, non-profit organizations, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are overwhelmed and do not have the funding or resources necessary to handle this massive surge of people.

(Above: Rep. Hill visited the U.S.-Mexico Border in San Diego, California in May of 2016. His visit included a helicopter tour with Customs and Border Protection agents.)

(Above: Rep. Hill speaks with Customs and Border Patrol agents during a trip to the southwest border in September 2015, near Laredo, Texas.)

(Above: Rep. Hill speaks with Customs and Border Patrol agents during a border trip in March of 2019 at a port of entry in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.)

For the last 60 days, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security have been pleading with Congress to provide additional funding to help alleviate the situation.

What many people forget is that for the past two decades, border security has been a bipartisan commitment. In 2014, Republicans responded promptly and in a bipartisan fashion when President Obama declared a crisis at the southwest border. Solving today’s crisis will also require a bipartisan solution.

Last week, 84 of the 100 U.S. Senators put aside partisan differences to pass a bill that will provide emergency assistance to children and families suffering on our southwest border–a bill that the president said he would sign.

This is what bipartisan leadership in the face of a humanitarian crisis looks like.

I was pleased to see Speaker Pelosi listen to House Republicans and hold a vote on the Senate bill without amendments. This legislation helps alleviate the suffering of children and families as well as supports our brave men and women who protect our borders and enforce our immigration laws.

I hope that Speaker Pelosi will continue to work with Republicans to increase border security, reform our broken asylum laws, fund humanitarian aid, and work with Central American countries and Mexico to reduce the flow of migrants.

Sincerely,

Representative French Hill

Thank you for taking time to keep up with the work I'm doing on your behalf. If I can be of any assistance to you or your family, please reach out to my office at (501) 324-5941 or Hill.House.Gov.

To keep up with my day-to-day meetings and events, please follow me on Facebook, I nstagram or Twitter.