INVOKING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order invoking the National Emergencies Act regarding the crisis at the U.S. southern border.
- The executive order declares a state of national emergency at the southern border after four years of record illegal immigration into the United States.
- It directs the Secretary of Defense to deploy additional personnel to the border, including members of the Armed Forces and the National Guard.
- Additionally, it directs the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to complete the wall along the southern border and ensures that DHS has all the flexibility it needs to conduct air missions near the border.
TAKE BACK CONTROL: Over the past four years, the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to enforce the border, resulting in a catastrophic immigration crisis for the United States.
- When states like Texas took steps to prevent illegal crossings into their states, the federal government sought to stop them by removing barriers.
- A record 8.72 million southern border crossings occurred between FY21 and FY24, overwhelming border resources and putting communities at risk.
- This led to the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of children. Approximately 550,000 unaccompanied alien children have been encountered at the border since FY21. Fentanyl and other drugs are crossing the border and flooding our communities, killing an estimated 75,000 Americans in 2023, the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45.
- This allowed dangerous gangs like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua to take control and terrorize entire American cities.
- And it led to the murder of innocent Americans like Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin and many others.
BUILDING ON PAST SUCCESS: America is in a dire situation and it is high time for government action. President Trump first declared a state of emergency at the southern border on February 15, 2019, and continued that emergency on February 15, 2019. February 13, 2020.
- Following the historic increase in illegal aliens in 2018, President Trump declared a national emergency and successfully reduced the number of people seeking to enter the country illegally.
- In 2024, President Trump has promised to declare a state of emergency to secure the border and use the military if necessary to protect Americans from foreign threats.
- This decree will allow the government to gain operational control of the border, fight cartels and secure our country.
- As President Trump described it in 2018: “Illegal immigration affects the lives of all Americans. Illegal Immigration Harms American Workers; it weighs on American taxpayers; and undermines public safety; and puts enormous strain on local schools, hospitals and communities at large, taking valuable resources away from the poorest Americans who need them most. Illegal immigration costs our country billions and billions of dollars every year… And so I will take every legal measure at my disposal to address this crisis. And that’s what we do.