Last Thursday, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) released a report exposing the impact of the Biden administration's border policies. The 36-page white paper, titled “America Invaded: How the Biden-Harris Border Crisis is Fundamentally Changing the United States,” details the devastating impact caused by the surge in illegal immigration.
The report summary states that the purpose of this document is to:
The breadth and depth of the damage that our country continues to suffer: our country has been transformed from a strong nation founded on the rule of law, and one that welcomes immigrants who abide by that law, into a lawless, dangerous, unrecognizable collection of individuals with no common bond.
He also stressed that “immediate legislative reform and executive action are needed to save America.”
Scope of the invasion
Citing official government data, the report details:
More than 8.5 million illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border since January 2021, more than the population of 37 U.S. states.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released more than 5.6 million illegal immigrants into the country, at least 1 million of whom were admitted on parole alone. Impeached DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged in a January 2024 news interview that more than 85% of illegal immigrants encountered at the southern border are released into the country. In addition, at least 1.9 million “fugitives” have entered the country, evading Border Patrol altogether. In total, at least 7.5 million illegal immigrants who crossed the southern border have been intentionally released into the United States or evaded arrest since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office. (Emphasis in original.)
Additionally, the administration is struggling to keep track of the sheer number of aliens encountered and released: Between March 2021 and August 2022, at least 177,000 aliens released inland were never found, representing 18% of all aliens encountered.
Fentanyl overdose
The report highlights a sharp increase in violent crime and dangerous drugs brought into the country by illegal immigrants.
The report said fentanyl overdoses, caused by Mexican drug cartels and a chemical compound sourced from China, could kill more than 75,000 Americans in 2023 alone — an average of more than 200 deaths per day.
Since the Biden-Harris administration took office, record numbers of fentanyl have been coming across the border: 11,200 pounds of fentanyl were seized in fiscal year 2021, more than the previous three years combined, and that will soar to more than 26,700 pounds in fiscal year 2023 (a 138% increase), enough to kill 18 times as many Americans as possible.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. The document also cites the heartbreaking case of a one-year-old who died after being exposed to fentanyl at a daycare center in the Bronx, New York City. Three other children were also hospitalized after being exposed to fentanyl.
Violent crime
The report describes violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants, including the murders of Laken Riley, Kayla Hamilton and Jocelyn Nangaray, and cites numerous media reports of murders committed by people apprehended at the border and then released into the country.
Overall, according to the report:
In FY 2021, Border Patrol agents encountered 10,763 aliens with criminal records, a 341% increase from FY 2020. In FY 2022, 12,028 criminal alien arrests were made. In FY 2023, Border Patrol agents apprehended 15,267 criminals. With two months remaining in FY 2024, criminal alien arrests have risen to 14,697, nearly surpassing the number of arrests made in the previous fiscal year.
Up to 950,000 violent criminals remain unidentified due to failures in DNA collection and other key law enforcement procedures.
The report also cited an increased influx of gang members, including members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua (TdA), which Republican lawmakers described as an “invasive criminal army” in a letter to President Joe Biden in March.
Terrorist threat
In fiscal year 2023 alone, a record 169 people on the terrorism watch list were arrested. But the report warns that many more may be escaping undetected. In fact, between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, at least 99 people on the terrorism watch list were released into the United States after being apprehended at the southern border.
The report also points to an invisible influx of Chinese nationals.
A staggering 35,399 Chinese nationals have crossed the southern border so far in fiscal year 2024, more than the previous three fiscal years combined. From fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2023, apprehensions of Chinese illegal immigrants at the southern border increased by 1,800%.
The Roy team warns that China is America's “number one geopolitical adversary” and may be seeking to infiltrate local communities to carry out espionage, trade theft and military operations.
Adding to the risks, “the administration has allowed more than seven million foreign nationals into the country without proper vetting, including by not interviewing or fingerprinting them,” the paper said.
Strengthening the cartel
The Roy report highlights that drug cartels are taking advantage of lax border policies to smuggle drugs, children and foreigners into the United States from countries where they face terrorism risks.
The financial incentives for these criminal organizations are staggering: Mexican drug cartels currently make more than $13 billion a year through human trafficking, “exposing migrants to a whole range of abuses,” according to the report.
Even more frightening, the Department of Homeland Security recently revealed that the administration is missing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant children, putting them at risk of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and forced labor.
Several chapters in the report detail the economic costs of the influx of illegal immigrants, highlighting emergency measures such as Operation Lone Star in Texas, huge expenditures on lodging, health care and education, and payments to nonprofits that fuel the crisis at the border.
Biden-Harris Policy
The report argues that at the root of the crisis are policies implemented by the Biden-Harris administration. Early in his presidency, Biden called for a 100-day moratorium on deportations, protected sanctuary cities from ICE activity, and encouraged asylum seekers to “swarm” the US-Mexico border. Roy argues that these actions emboldened people seeking to enter the country illegally, believing they would encounter little to no resistance.
Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris, was named the administration's “border secretary,” tasked with addressing the root causes of migration. But the Roy report argues that the Biden-Harris agenda has only made the situation worse. The administration's handling of the crisis has been widely criticized, despite growing concerns from the American public and even some Democratic allies. Now, with her presidential bid, Harris has awkwardly distanced herself from policies she once supported.
Political crisis
According to the Roy report, the border crisis is exacerbated by political motives. Democrats are allowing illegal immigrants to enter and stay in the U.S. to build a base of voters dependent on state benefits, the report argues. Critics of the administration's policies have called for bills such as HR 8281, the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The report concludes with a call for urgent action to address the worst border crisis in U.S. history, including passage of H.R. 2, the “Border Security Act.” As the border crisis continues to strain the country, the report's urgent warning about the future of U.S. immigration policy is sure to intensify the ongoing political debate, especially on the eve of Tuesday's Harris vs. Trump debate.
