As the U.S.-Mexico border continues to bear the onslaught of illegal border crossings, Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is asking the Biden administration for an accounting of taxpayer money spent housing migrants in Central America.
According to Roy and U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R–AZ), in a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “reports indicate that the U.S. federal government has been funding San Vicente Camp, a temporary shelter and processing center for U.S.-bound migrants located in Darien Province, Panama.” The letter also says:
San Vicente Camp is also reported to be a transit point for Chinese nationals, some of whom are suspected to be intelligence operatives or harbor ties to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Camps like this not only incentivize migrants to travel through Central America to our southern border, but also pose a national security risk to the United States, as they serve as waystations for U.S.-bound bad actors traveling across the Western Hemisphere to infiltrate our nation.
Roy and Biggs also highlighted the Biden administration’s planned Regional Processing Centers (RPC) in Columbia and Guatemala, stating, “The record-breaking numbers of illegal crossings should prompt the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to not only secure our border but to ensure we do not provide incentives for U.S.-bound aliens to traverse across other nations, such as subsidizing shelters or RPCs for migrants in transit nations.”
Additionally, these “inhumane” policies encourage migrants to trek their way across Central America to reach the U.S. border, which is a decidedly dangerous journey.
In the past two fiscal years, at least 917 migrants have died attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border––a figure that doesn’t include anyone who died on the journey to the border.
“The American people have a right to know if their tax dollars are being used for inhumane policies that facilitate illegal immigration and if those who pose a threat to our public safety, national security, and border are using these installations to facilitate their entry into the country,” said Roy and Biggs.
They have requested an accounting of all taxpayer money spent subsidizing migrant camps and RPCs as well as detailed explanations for the application processes and screening of migrants in these camps and RPCs by August 30.
“The southern border is overrun, and the American people – especially Texans – are suffering as a consequence,” said Roy and Biggs.
Indeed, since March of 2021 Texas has spent $10 billion on Operation Lone Star––a border security initiative that has deployed thousands of national guard members and Texas Department of Public Safety officers to the Texas-Mexico border. Despite this, Texas is still under immense strain from illegal crossings.
Border security advocates are calling for the Texas government to mandate E-Verify (a federal program to ensure legal employment eligibility) and end any incentives drawing illegal aliens to the state, including in-state tuition.
Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott has called for Mayorkas’ impeachment while Roy and a dozen other members of the Texas congressional delegation are calling for the U.S. Congress to defund DHS until the U.S. border has been secured.
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