The House Judiciary Committee will tell the “human story” of the southern border crisis on Wednesday at its first immigration hearing, kicking off what is expected to be a series of hearings scrutinizing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The stepfather of a 15-year-old boy who died from fentanyl and a southeastern Arizona county sheriff are among the impacted locals who are slated to testify at the hearing, titled “The Biden Border Crisis — Part One,” according to Breitbart.
“You tell the people story, the human story about what’s happened now,” Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told the news outlet.
Tackling the immigration issues that have led to more than four million migrants illegally entering the country during the Biden administration begins with the “human story” for the committee.
“We’ve had members talk about the implications on healthcare systems, education systems, on and on it goes in communities in their districts, which are not on the border,” Jordan said.
The House Judiciary chair said he had an epiphany moment when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., made a comment during last year’s annual consultation with cabinet officials to calculate refugee admission limits.
“First thing Durbin says is — he goes first on the question portion — and he says, ‘Last weekend I was at a shelter in Chicago where I saw 150 migrants from Texas because that governor sent people up here,’ and I’m like, holy cow, now the rest of the country is seeing what Texas and Arizona have been dealing with,” Jordan said.
According to Breitbart, the committee’s three-pronged immigration strategy consists of highlighting the impact of the border crisis on average Americans, examining how the crisis is occurring and assessing how to fix it.
Immigration reform customarily must pass the Judiciary Committee before being considered by the full House.
“We do anticipate passing immigration enforcement legislation out of our committee,” Jordan told Breitbart. “It needs to pass if we’re actually going to fix the problem. Now, whether the Senate can pass it and Joe Biden would ever sign it, that’s a different story.”
New to the panel this year, Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., said he is hoping the first hearing exposes the “humanitarian crisis” at the border.
“I’ve always believed a closed border is a compassionate border,” Moore told Breitbart. “We’ve lost nearly 1,000 people crossing that border. We’ve had people left in vans. We’ve had people drown, and so it’s to bring attention to what we believe is a humanitarian crisis.”
Some on the committee are also eager to hold DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas accountable for the crisis through impeachment, with Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., announcing this week that he plans to introduce impeachment articles against the border chief after the committee hearing Wednesday.
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