Oversight Republicans Again Call for Hearing on Biden’s Border Crisis

Committee Democrats remain silent as crisis worsens

Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and Committee Republicans renewed their request to Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) for a hearing on the crisis at the border. The Republican lawmakers called out the Democrats’ hypocrisy on this issue, noting they held several hearings and conducted site visits at border facilities during the previous administration, and urged Chairwoman Maloney to conduct oversight of the Biden Administration’s response to the escalating crisis. 

“Since his first day in office, President Biden and his Administration have issued a series of executive orders and actions that have signaled to the world the southwest border is open and illegal immigration will have little, if any consequence,” wrote the Republican lawmakers. “Human smugglers are taking advantage of and profiting from this administration’s open borders agenda and families and children are arriving in droves with the near guarantee they will be released into the interior of the United States. We have repeatedly called on the Biden Administration to provide documents and information on how it plans to address this crisis, but to date, it has refused to do so. So far, it appears the only plan the Biden Administration has is to run radio and social media advertisements. A hashtag is not going to make this crisis go away.”

In total, there are now more than 13,000 children in U.S. custody as shelter space becomes scarce. The Border Patrol is overwhelmed, resulting in agents forced to release illegal immigrants into the U.S. without court dates. Oversight Committee Republicans also note the Biden Administration has refused to implement deterrent-focused policies and must be held accountable for the actions that caused the crisis at the border. 

“It appears that Committee Democrats only care about these issues when there is a Republican in the White House. However, securing our border and ending this humanitarian crisis should be a priority for this Committee regardless of party affiliation. The Committee must hold the Biden Administration accountable for its policies that have created a crisis at the border,” they concluded.  

Oversight Republicans first called for a border crisis hearing on March 4, 2021.

Read today’s letter here.