March 12, 2021 The Honorable Zoe Lofgren Chair Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Committee on the Judiciary U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chair Lofgren: Last week, Republicans on the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship wrote to you requesting that you schedule a hearing

to examine the Biden Administration’s

crisis on the southern U.S. border stemming from the sharp increase of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) arriving at the border. As I await your response, the Biden border crisis is becoming increasingly worse. The Subcommittee must immediately address this crisis. On Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that there were 100,441 encounters on the southern border during February 2021

 — 

the shortest month of the year.

1

 Of these encounters, 9,457 were UACs, an increase of 3,600 over January.

2

 The total number of southern border encounters during this fiscal year is no doubt over 400,000 by now, and we have not even entered the months in which crossing numbers are historically the highest. CNN reported that due to overwhelming numbers, CBP is forced to hold UACs for an average of 107 hours before transferring custody to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

3

 Federal law sets the standard for a maximum holding time of 72 hours prior to transfer.

4

 As if the Biden immigration policies were not enough of an open-borders rallying cry, Wednesday

during a White House press briefing President Biden’s

Coordinator for the Southern Border shockingly stated in Spanis

h “

la frontera no está cerrada

,”

 

which translates to “the border

1

 U.S. Customs and Border Protection,

FY Southwest Land Border Encounters by Month

, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters.

2

 U.S. Customs and Border Protection,

FYTD Southwest Land Border Demographic by Month

, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters.

3

 Priscilla Alvarez,

Unaccompanied Migrant Children Staying in Border Patrol Facilities and Average of 107  Hours, Internal Records Show

, CNN, (Mar. 10, 2021) https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/10/politics/migrant-children- border-patrol/index.html. 

4

 8. U.S.C. § 1232(b)(3).