Florida Congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart (R) and Carlos Gimenez (R) held a press conference this week, noting the recent U.S. Department of Homeland Security's halting of immigration applications.
“The Biden Administration’s reckless abandonment of border security and its systematic failure to properly vet nearly 10 million people were a betrayal of national safety and a direct threat to American lives," the lawmakers commented in a joint statement. "We condemned it unequivocally from the start.”
The lawmakers claimed the Biden administration ignored their “urgent warnings” and condemned its lax enforcement of immigration policy.
“Our urgent warnings, both in writing and in person, about the consequences of the Biden Administration’s grotesquely irresponsible open-border policies and non-existent vetting were ignored. Today, we are unfortunately dealing with the consequences,” the lawmakers said.
In the press conference, Díaz-Balart and Gimenez highlighted the “chaos” that has been happening at the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
“The chaos that unfolded at our southern border allowed over 300 known terrorists to enter the country, enabled hostile foreign operatives–including Cuban regime pilot Luis Raul Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez, recently indicted for immigration fraud–and led to the preventable murders of Americans in their own communities,” the Congressmen remarked.
They argued that stronger border security at the U.S. southern border could have prevented many American deaths. They specifically emphasized the deaths of Laken Riley in Georgia, Jocelyn Nungaray in Texas, the failed Election Day 2024 terrorist plot, and the murder of a U.S. National Guard soldier by an Afghan national.
“They are direct consequences of Biden’s incompetence and failed leadership. Criminals applied for and exploited U.S. immigration privileges under an administration that simply stopped enforcing the rule of law,” the congressmen affirmed.
Díaz-Balart and Gimenez argued that President Donald Trump “inherited” a broken immigration system, which the Biden administration worsened with its loose policies. Thus, they declared their commitment to help resolve the issue.
“We remain fully committed to permanently fixing our immigration system once and for all," the lawmakers vowed. :We also hope this process is thorough and done quickly so that individuals with legitimate asylum claims have the opportunity to have their cases adjudicated expeditiously, something that did not happen under the Biden Administration."
