North Charlotte Today

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Thom Tillis has called on Democrats to take the issue of border security seriously and negotiate in good faith to address the national security and humanitarian crises at the Southern border. In a speech delivered on the Senate floor, Senator Tillis highlighted the alarming number of illegal crossings at the border, with over 300,000 recorded in December alone, setting a new record high for a single month.

Senator Tillis expressed concern about the abuse of the asylum system, stating, "Since President Biden has entered office, the number of encounters at the border is over eight million. That population exceeds the population of 30 U.S. states. A lot of them are the people that we just described. They are demeaning and devaluing the concept of asylum."

Referring to public support for a secure border, Senator Tillis emphasized that a majority of Americans expect the administration to negotiate in good faith with conservatives. He highlighted his own experience in negotiating bipartisan deals to solve the border problem and reassured Democrats that this issue is not a political loser. He said, "If any Democrats are concerned with how far the negotiations are going, I don’t think that they need to."

Senator Tillis also discussed the impact of cartels taking advantage of the open border. He explained how cartels charge exorbitant fees, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 per person, to facilitate illegal border crossings. Those who cannot afford to pay are forced into criminal activities until their debt is cleared. He described the cartels as a cancer metastasizing through illegally present communities, exploiting vulnerable individuals and causing some who had no criminal record in their home countries to become criminals in the United States.

Senator Tillis' plea to Democrats comes at a critical time when the number of illegal crossings continues to rise, posing significant challenges to national security and humanitarian concerns. It is crucial for both parties to come together and find a bipartisan compromise that ensures border security while upholding the principles of asylum and protecting vulnerable individuals.