Why I support the president’s national emergency

Each of these is a snapshot of a much larger problem that represents a crisis worthy of an emergency declaration on the border. The number of illegal entry apprehensions, drug apprehensions and asylum claims is only increasing. Compared with fiscal year 2017, fiscal year 2018 saw an increase of about 30 percent in Border Patrol apprehensions along our southwest border. Over the same time, officials report an increase of 22 percent in heroin seizures, 38 percent in methamphetamine seizures and 73 percent in fentanyl seizures. Meanwhile, asylum claims along our southern border have increased 2,000 percent over the past five years — choking our immigration system — despite the fact that only 9 percent of claims from Mexico and Central America are successful.

The numbers become even more concerning when you talk with our Border Patrol agents. I spent 20 years as a builder and developer in South Texas, and I have had the opportunity to meet with our brave men and women at our southern border many times over the past few years and hear straight from them what they need. Our agents on the frontlines tell me for every apprehension they make along the border, there is another person who gets into our country undetected. They know that drug cartels and human traffickers are using migrants to their advantage. The more migrants the cartels can push toward our border agents, the less likely those agents can detect and stop drugs and experienced criminals from finding their way across our border. That’s why a wall is so necessary.