Wicker: The Costs of the Biden-Harris Border Crisis

The Biden-Harris administration has compelled the nation to adjust to life under an out-of-control border. By disregarding border security, the administration has essentially established a new tax on cities, states, and law enforcement agencies - forcing them to absorb the price of its decisions. The president and vice president have also created a setting so chaotic that it has become a national security vulnerability. Criminal gangs - and even our adversaries - are eager to exploit the crisis.

On the administration's watch, over three million illegal immigrants have entered U.S. custody and then been released into the country. Some researchers have tried to quantify the economic impact of the border crisis. One study has estimated that the situation demands $150 billion from taxpayers annually - enough to fund three years of the defense investment increase we need.

Vice President has Overseen Chaos

This cascade of increasing costs flows directly from the administration's choices. The president tapped Vice President Harris to solve the situation at the border. Instead, she has presided over its deterioration. Border encounters rose every year from 2021 to 2023 and reached a fever pitch when December 2023 shattered the monthly record.

The Crisis Lands on Cities and States

A problem so large can be hard to picture in the real world. But school districts and health systems - including those in Mississippi - have had no trouble understanding the practical impact of the vice president's policy. Both have had to expand capacity to keep pace. Law enforcement agencies have also had to respond. The chaos has allowed violent cartels to thrive, and bad actors have found loopholes. In June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested eight migrants with ties to ISIS, detaining them months after they had successfully passed through southwest border checkpoints.

Administration Wastes Resources in a Dangerous Time

The White House has been making Americans foot the bill for its self-inflicted fiasco. Now is the worst time for such irresponsibility. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have shown eagerness to topple the United States' leadership, and they are building the military hardware to challenge us. We can deter these aggressors from moving against us, but only if we rebuild our national security. Instead of inflicting annual $150 billion-dollar immigration charges on the American people, the Biden-Harris administration should have been making an investment of that size in our military and our defense manufacturing workforce.

This year, I published a comprehensive plan to bring our armed forces up to date. I have been putting that plan into action through my role as the senior Republican on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, starting with a security budget increase in our committee's defense bill. It will be expensive to update our military assets - over $55 billion a year for at least five years. But paying now to prevent war will be much less costly than fighting, or losing, a conflict.

In my Armed Services Committee work, I have also been supporting legislation that would allow the Department of Defense (DOD) to assist at the border. One bill would empower DOD to counter the thousands of drones that cartels have been using in human and drug trafficking. Another would help DOD improve information-sharing among agencies working in the area. I have also been overseeing the implementation of the FINISH IT Act, a law I authored and passed with the goal of adding to the border wall.

The administration's crisis has reinforced the point that border security is national security. It is high time that the president and vice president recognized that and took this moment to begin rebuilding America's defense.

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