During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) spoke about the investments in border security in the GOP's budget reconciliation bill.
00:00Mr. President, on Monday, Customs and Border Protection released its monthly update for April.
00:04And I want to read a line from that release, and I quote,
00:08Driven by the administration's decisive and effective immigration enforcement,
00:13our front lines continue to see overwhelming improvements when it comes to securing our border.
00:19End quote.
00:20In April, CBP, Customs and Border Protection, encountered just 12,035 illegal immigrants
00:27trying to cross our southern border.
00:30In the entire month, Mr. President, March saw just 11,019.
00:35February, 11,708.
00:39This president, during the Biden administration, there were single days, days that saw those kinds of numbers.
00:46And that's not the only good news.
00:48CBP also reported an increase in drug seizures in April.
00:51And as acting CBP Commissioner Pete Flores says, and I quote,
00:55for the first time in years, more agents are back in the field, patrolling territories that CBP didn't have the bandwidth
01:02or the manpower to oversee just six months ago.
01:05End quote.
01:06Mr. President, I have to say it's amazing what new leadership can do.
01:10In seemingly no time at all, the Trump administration has restored operational control at the border.
01:15Border Patrol agents are no longer processing thousands of illegal immigrants a day.
01:20They're out in the field apprehending illegal border crossers, seizing drugs, and disrupting human and drug smuggling networks.
01:29Meanwhile, ICE agents and other law enforcement officers are busy removing criminal illegal immigrants
01:35who have taken up residence in our country.
01:37Mr. President, not long ago, the story was much different.
01:42During the Biden administration, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were crossing the southern border
01:48in a single month, including a concerning number of known gotaways.
01:54And the Biden administration abused the parole and asylum systems to waive illegal immigrants into the United States.
02:01As a result, communities across the country were overwhelmed by the influx.
02:06And valuable resources had to be used to process and transport these migrants.
02:11Resources that could have gone toward securing the border, arresting criminals, and stopping the flow of illegal drugs.
02:19Mr. President, I'm grateful at the progress that's been made so quickly by President Trump and his administration.
02:28Our country is safer today than it was just a few months ago.
02:32And we want to ensure that President Trump and his administration, and future administrations,
02:37have the resources they need for this success to continue.
02:40That's why the reconciliation bill that we'll take up will make a generational investment in border security.
02:46That means money to finish the border wall.
02:48It means technology to help border agents stop illegal immigrants and drugs from entering our country in the first place.
02:56It means additional border patrol agents on the front lines.
03:00More immigration and customs enforcement agents to carry out removals.
03:04More detention capacity and transportation resources to facilitate deportations.
03:10And certainty for the President's team that it will have the resources it needs to execute its mission for the entirety of the Trump administration.
03:20Mr. President, Republicans don't just want to turn the page on the border crisis of the Biden years.
03:26We want to close the book.
03:29And that's what this bill will help do.
03:31Democrats may not support our efforts.
03:33Even now, I'm not sure border security really even registers on their priority list.
03:40But the American people, Mr. President, support border security.
03:44And we intend to deliver it.
03:46We are committed to ensuring that the success we've seen so far can continue long into the future.
03:52For the men and women on the front lines.
03:53And for the safety and security of the American people.
