The House Judiciary Committee held an in-person hearing at the southern border in Yuma, Arizona, on Thursday to examine how the recent surge in immigrants is putting a strain on resources in the small town.
The hearing on the “Biden Border Crisis” is the latest in a series intended to highlight a record number of migrant apprehensions at the border over the last two years, pointing blame at the Biden administration’s border policies. No Democrats were in attendance, citing scheduling conflicts and saying they would take their own trip to the border region. Many called the hearing a “stunt” and claimed that “there was no consultation with Judiciary Democrats, many who had already committed to other congressional delegation trips.”
“It’s a shame that not one Democrat member of Congress would join us on this trip despite having weeks of advance notice. It’s disappointing but not surprising,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Jonathan Lines, a Yuma County supervisor, Sheriff Leon Wilmot, and Dr. Robert Trenschel, president and CEO of Yuma Regional Medical Center, testified about how the community of Yuma has been affected by the overflow of immigrants.
“Since President Biden took office, we saw a huge surge, a record number of people crossing illegally from 106 different countries, 17 of those countries are designated as special interest because of the negative relationship with the United States,” Lines said in his opening statement.
Lines, who was born and raised in Yuma, has spoken previously with the Washington Examiner and said the surge is draining the resources of both local and federal law enforcement in the region, where 100,000 people reside.
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“This is not just a Yuma, Arizona, problem but that illegal entry, human trafficking, and narcotics, especially fentanyl and methamphetamine, has now compounded across the states to impact every community across our nation, now making them too into border communities,” he said.
Trenschel, who has led the Yuma Regional Medical Center for eight years, discussed how the influx of immigrants has put a major strain on the hospital, which is located hundreds of miles away from other hospitals in Phoenix and San Diego. He said the center has delivered over $26 million in care to immigrants over a year, which is enough to pay the salary and benefits of 212 nurses.
“The city of Yuma has 100,000 people, and we’ve had over 300,000 people cross the border here. That’s three times the population of Yuma coming across the border,” he said.
The third witness, Wilmot, testified the local Border Patrol apprehensions of immigrants have gone from 40 a day to over 1,000 a day over the last two years.
“Our southern border, against all public comfort statements out of Washington, D.C., is in the worst shape I have ever seen in my career,” he testified. “When one looks at public safety, national security, and humanitarian, our southern border can only be described as the largest crime scene in the country.”
The hearing was largely political, with Republicans slamming the administration for not doing enough to secure the border. The in-person hearing comes after the Biden administration announced a new rule that could penalize immigrants who cross the border illegally without first asking for protection in a country they traveled through on their way to the United States. Many Democrats have criticized the move, the latest in a series of new initiatives by the Biden administration to deter immigrants and asylum-seekers from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The asylum plan is the most restrictive policy proposed yet by the Biden administration and cites the federal government’s “anticipation of a potential surge of migrants at the southwest border” after the Title 42 pandemic border policy is expected to be lifted in late spring.
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“We don’t have a single Democrat that we can even convince to come to this briefing to get evidence from these experts. Do we think that we are going to get President Joe Biden and [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer [D-NY] to pass legislation without a fight?” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said. “We must demand it go in must-pass bills, and we have to use every bit of leverage, or this is a deeply unserious exercise.”
During the hearing, Gaetz and other Republicans on the panel attempted to make the case for impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border, a rare step that hasn’t been used against a Cabinet member since 1876. During Gaetz’s leading questioning of Lines, he asked the Yuma County supervisor if Mayorkas had ever lied to him.
“During that meeting, he committed to specifically address nine of the 11 Yuma gaps,” Lines said, recalling a meeting he had with Mayorkas about the gaps in the border wall at the Yuma Sector. “To date so far, he has addressed none.”
Former President Donald Trump’s unfinished border wall is on full display in southern Arizona. Tens of thousands of steel slats once intended to become part of the wall sit rusting on the ground near the border. The posts, most of them reinforced with concrete and rebar, are worth $2.5 million, but it’s unclear what can be done with them since President Joe Biden halted the project when he took office in January 2021.
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Lawmakers have attempted to find compromise on immigration reform, but those efforts were largely unsuccessful last session, and the prospects are even more pessimistic with a divided Congress. In the absence of legislative momentum, House Republicans continue to move forward with their messaging efforts to call attention to problems at the southern border.
The hearing in Yuma marks the third Republican-led trip to the border this year. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce led trips to the border last week. Additionally, the House Committee on Homeland Security will have a trip for freshman Republican members, which they are calling a “border boot camp.”
