Speaker Johnson sounds off on ‘national security catastrophe’ and who he thinks is responsible

Heading into a crucial election year, the ongoing crisis on America’s southern border continues to be a serious political liability, and both parties are passing the blame.

While new polling shows that 63% of voters believe that the Biden administration should be “tougher on immigrants crossing the border,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates last week linked the crisis to Republicans. This prompted speaker of the House Mike Johnson to fire back with a memo outlining the ways in which Joe Biden has contributed to the problem.

"On more than 60 occasions, [Biden] has manipulated the federal bureaucracy to open our borders to illegal immigrants, human trafficking, fentanyl, and potential terrorists,” said Johnson. “The result is a humanitarian and national security catastrophe."

Johnson’s 64 “occasions,” listed chronologically from the day Biden was sworn in to January 3, 2024, include the president's decision to halt emergency construction of the border wall, rescind Trump-era border policy, and, most recently, sue the state of Texas over disputes about the border.

Previously, the speaker, who happens to support Convention of States, wrote a letter to Biden urging his administration to own up to their failed immigration agenda.

“In Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) encountered a record 2.48 million illegal aliens at our southern border, in addition to nearly 670,000 so-called ‘got-a-ways,’” summarized the lawmaker from Louisiana who visited the border earlier this month. “On average, more than 8,400 illegal aliens entered our country every single day over the last year. While those numbers are shocking, they are projected to be even worse in FY2024. Just this week, the record for illegal crossings in a single day was broken yet again.”

“The wide-open border has caused unspeakable human tragedy for migrants and certainly for our own citizens," Johnson lambasted. “During FY2023, CBP seized ‘enough fentanyl to kill the entire U.S. population,’ and fentanyl poisoning is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18- 45.5 Countless children and adults have been victims of human trafficking and cartels have been emboldened and enriched. Local communities have been devastated and terrorists and dangerous criminals have entered illegally and dispersed across our country. We are now more vulnerable to a terrorist attack on our homeland than ever.”

And while the White House seeks to shift the blame for this horrific crisis, Johnson remains clear-eyed about who is at fault: “All of this is the direct result of your administration’s policies. You have clearly undermined America’s sovereignty and security,” he scolded the president. It would seem the American people agree, with polling data indicating that over 86% of voters believe that the federal government should be held responsible for bearing the costs of the southern border crisis.

Over the past three years, Washington, D.C., has penned a telling parable about the blatant disregard of our federal officials — even after years of tremendous pressure to secure our border, the White House continues to sit by even as the crisis worsens.

Unsurprisingly, most Americans are not confident that the federal government will ever address this crisis, leading many of them to grassroots solutions, including the nationwide movement to call an Article V convention.

To affirm your support for this important cause, sign the Convention of States petition below.

;coalition_id:;anedot_url:}|#