U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is the cosponsor of a bill that would redirect $15 billion from the IRS enforcement account to the crisis on the southern border, where just last month, more than 260,000 illegal immigrants poured over a border that has been abandoned by the Biden Administration.
That’s more than 8,300 illegals per day penetrating the border without any accountability, and the flood of migrants has not let up in September.
On Monday, Sullivan released the following statement regarding the record-breaking number of illegal border crossings on the southern border this August.
“There are no excuses for the Biden administration’s disastrous handling of our southern border. The numbers released by Customs and Border Protection reveal more than 200,000 illegal encounters last month ALONE. It is a humanitarian crisis. It is a national security crisis. It is a health crisis. Americans nationwide, including Alaskans, are impacted by this crisis.
“This dereliction of duty by President Biden is allowing thousands of criminals, including human and drug traffickers, to pour into our country. We are already dealing with a scourge of drug overdoses nationwide—largely driven by fentanyl. Alaska is no exception. My state experienced the largest percent increase in drug overdose deaths in the country. Until we get our wide-open border under control—and I’ve been there to see it—this problem will only get worse under President Biden’s inaction.
“I’m calling on President Biden, yet again, to do his job and secure our southern border. Even Democrats are finally becoming outraged at this failure to act. The President needs to step up, enforce the law, and put an end to this catastrophe.”
The president early in his administration assigned the border problem to Vice President Kamala Harris, who was supposed to coordinate diplomacy with Mexico and stem the tide of humanity pouring into the United States. She has failed in every measure.
Sen. Sullivan’s Securing Our Border Act would redirect $15 billion from IRS enforcement funds that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to instead be spent on border security. The legislation is endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council, which represents approximately 18,000 agents and support personnel, many of which are assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol.
CBP is the largest law enforcement agency in the country, and more than 85 percent of the agency’s Border Patrol agents (approximately 16,878 of 19,648) are concentrated on the southern border. The agents are outnumbered 7-to-1 by illegal immigrants alone.
Sullivan visited the southern border in 2021 with U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.).
In 2022, all 50 Democrats blocked Sullivan’s amendment to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that would have directed $500 million to be allocated to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure the southern border. The funds were instead earmarked for “sustainability and environmental” programs at the Department of Homeland Security.
