‘One Big, Beautiful Bill' Will Give Americans a Secure Border

Yahoo

29-04-2025

This week, the House Committee on Homeland Security will take a major step toward enacting legislation to implement President Trumps border security agenda.
As part of the Houses broader reconciliation effort, the committee will be marking up legislation to fully fund one of the presidents top priorities - securing our southwest border following four years of the unprecedented and self-inflicted border crisis at the hands of the Biden-Harris administration.
It is a generational opportunity on which we must deliver, and the timing is ideal.
Since President Trump took office, following his promises to end the Biden-Harris open-borders policies and restore interior enforcement, illegal crossings have plummeted. In March, Border Patrol agents recorded just around 7,000 apprehensions at the southwest border; for much of Bidens reign, that number (often higher) was the daily average.
Under President Trump, the world understands that our borders are once again closed to illegal immigration.
But the work is far from over. Congress must act.
During his first term, President Trump was devoted to securing our borders and reducing illegal immigration, and he went to great lengths to do so. However, an uncooperative Congress limited him primarily to acting via executive authority. When Biden took office, Trumps actions were reversed.
The only way for us to make good on our promises to the American people is to codify President Trumps agenda. Funding common-sense and effective border security measures through reconciliation is the first step.
We might not be able to achieve every needed reform in this "one big, beautiful bill," but it is an essential starting point.
A quick look at the Homeland Security Committees legislative text demonstrates why. First, we will never secure our border without adequate investments in physical security. Our text does that, devoting more than $46 billion to construction of new border wall system. This includes not just the wall itself, but lights, sensors, cameras, and access roads - vital tools that Border Patrol agents say they need to control and secure the border.
Democrats sitting in air-conditioned TV studios and hearing rooms may mock the presidents focus on physical border security, but in doing so, they show how out of touch they are with the men and women on the ground.
One survey by the National Border Patrol Council has found that nine out of 10 agents agree with the importance and utility of a strategically placed border wall system. Former Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke, who led operations in the San Diego sector until his retirement in 2023, told my committee in a transcribed interview that the wall "slows down the people as they come across, and so we have more time to respond and actually make an apprehension."
Second, we are also going to ensure that CBP has the personnel and resources it needs to carry out President Trumps vision and fully secure our borders. That means money to hire thousands more Border Patrol agents, customs officers, and Air and Marine Operations agents. At the same time, we are going to supercharge CBPs ability to intercept human smugglers and deadly drugs like fentanyl, by funding the construction of more internal checkpoints and other facilities, as well as new technologies that will act as a force multiplier for agents.
In 2023, other chief patrol agents told my committee that the border crisis had pulled personnel away from manning some existing checkpoints, and they were deeply concerned about the drugs that likely slipped through as a result. Under the Trump administration, not only are agents able to get back to their frontline security mission - they will have an even stronger operational footing from which to conduct that mission.
Finally, we will continue to support states that are serious about border security. House Republicans understand what time it is. The committees of jurisdiction will have grueling markups in the days ahead as we work to get this bill to President Trumps desk. As they have for the last four years, Democrats will fight tooth and nail to stop us from securing the border and enforcing our laws. They will demonstrate why only about 20% of the country views them favorably.
However, Republicans must keep our eyes focused on the ultimate objective - re-securing the border, ending mass illegal immigration, and preventing another open-borders crisis. With this investment, we will help ensure the catastrophe of the last four years does not happen again.
We can do it. We must. And we will.
Rep. Mark Green, a Republican, is a former physician and combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, where he served three tours. He is chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.