Ranking Member Jason Smith Calls Out President Biden Over Dangerous and Costly Executive Order
Raises Concerns Over Safety and Budgetary Costs Associated With Border Wall And Immigration OrderWASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Biden signed an executive order abandoning construction on the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Ranking Member Jason Smith issued the following statement emphasizing the immediate price tag and safety concerns this order will have.
“This Executive Order not only puts our nation’s security at risk, but it also shortchanges American taxpayers. It is amazing that the President would make this one of his first actions. In addition to making us less safe as a country, halting border wall construction and the related technologies will actually cost us billions. Defaulted contracts will have to be paid out, hundreds of thousands of tons of material will have to be thrown out, land that has been dug out for construction will have to be refilled, and thousands of jobs will be lost.
“Not only will Americans foot the bill for these costs, but they will also be forced to finance the implications of these policies which will encourage more illegal immigration and more illicit drugs across our border. In 2019 House Democrats voted to spend $30 billion to provide citizenship and government benefits to 2 million illegal immigrants. President Biden talks of a pathway to citizenship for 11 million, with costs likely in the hundreds of billions of dollars. We should not be charging taxpayers to be able to grant citizenship and government benefits for those who enter the United States illegally.
“It is disconcerting that President Biden’s first priority as our nation’s leader is to ask hardworking American taxpayers to pay for the costs associated with policies that encourage illegal immigration. Securing our border and enforcing our laws should be the only way forward.”
