Republicans are probably going to keep claiming it, but the southern border is not and has not recently been just “open” under any reasonable understanding of that concept.
Nobody in an actual position of direct authority has revealed any secret directive from the president or a member of his team to just stop enforcing the federal laws that govern immigration and the southern border — though ostensibly securing the border has emerged as such an intensely claimed issue for Republicans in the House that they’ve demanded movement on their particular agenda in tandem with necessary government funding. And the deadline for approving that funding is within just days, after which point the paychecks for many government personnel — including agents securing the border! — will be threatened.
Recently, the House Oversight Committee heard again from a leading agent at U.S. Customs and Border Protection who attested to what’s actually transpiring, as relayed by Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Bennie Thompson (Miss.), who lead Democrats on the Oversight and Homeland Security committees, respectively. “Today is the eighth time Committee Republicans have forced a Border Patrol Sector Chief away from their duty station to confirm what we already know: Border Patrol is working hard to secure the southern border and the Biden-Harris Administration is providing support and resources to fulfill this important mission,” the Democrats said.
Apparently, this leading agent also spoke to the negative consequences of a federal government shutdown that would be faced specifically by border agents. “Chief Chavez confirmed that an extreme MAGA Republican government shutdown next week will have devastating consequences on Border Patrol operations and the agents who work to keep us safe. During a shutdown, Chief Chavez explained, Border Patrol’s efforts to interview and vet migrants at the border will suffer from lack of resources and agents will be forced to work without paychecks,” again per the Democrats. The agent who appeared for questioning was Gloria Chavez, identified as Chief Patrol Agent of the Rio Grande Valley Sector. Her interview was on Tuesday.
