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Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee used their first hearing of the new Congress to zero in on what they call a crisis at the southern U.S. border.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, presided over a hearing Wednesday billed as „The Biden Border Crisis — Part I.“ As the name implies, it’s the first of what are likely to be many GOP-led hearings on the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Jordan and other Republicans on the committee blamed the administration’s policies for the record number of migrant apprehensions at the border over the past two years — even as President Biden has kept some of President Trump’s key border policies in place, including the pandemic restrictions known as Title 42.
Some in the GOP majority also amplified controversial rhetoric about an „invasion“ of migrants, and pushed questionable claims about how the synthetic opioid fentanyl is smuggled into the U.S.
Republicans sought to portray the surge in migrants as a threat to communities across the country, while Democrats accused them of fear-mongering and spreading misinformation.
„It is open. The border is dangerous,“ said Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona. „Drugs pour across, international terrorists, criminal gang members, people from all over the world.“
The Biden administration disputes that the border is open, and argues that its recent enforcement measures have led to a drop in the number of illegal border crossings in recent weeks.
But no Biden administration officials were called to testify, leaving Democrats on the committee to defend their record.
„The Biden administration actually expelled over 1.1 million people last year. And recently expanded the use of Title 42, much to the concern of many of us on the committee,“ said the committee’s ranking member, Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who described the hearing as „political theater.“
Dubious assertions about fentanyl smuggling
Republicans on the committee also sought to focus attention on the growing number of deaths from fentanyl, which is often smuggled across the southern border from Mexico.
