{"id":2267666,"date":"2024-06-14T07:11:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T11:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-warns-of-problems-at-border-just-not-the-one-you-expect\/"},"modified":"2024-06-14T07:18:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T11:18:21","slug":"house-gop-warns-of-problems-at-border-just-not-the-one-you-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-warns-of-problems-at-border-just-not-the-one-you-expect\/","title":{"rendered":"House GOP highlights unexpected border issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-gop-warns-of-problems-at-border-just-not-the-one-you-expect%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2267666&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>House Republicans recently held a \u200dsubcommittee hearing in North Dakota to address the increasing\u2064 issue of \u2064border \u200ccrossings, \u2063especially concerning from a perspective of the \u200dU.S.-Canada border, \u2064despite its usual \u200dfocus on\u2062 the U.S.-Mexico border. The\u2062 hearing\u2063 highlighted \u2062dramatic rises in\u2064 illegal crossings in parts of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/march-border-crossings-jump-to-15-year-high\/\" title=\"March Border Crossings Jump to 15-Year High\">northern border<\/a>. For\u2063 instance, in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tensions-flare-between-china-india-after-clashes-at-himalayan-border\/\" title=\"Tensions flare between China, India after clashes at Himalayan border\">border region<\/a> adjacent to upstate \u200bNew \u200cYork and New England, the numbers\u2064 of\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-harris-asks-big-tech-wall-street-to-join-hillary-clinton-in-crafting-policy-advice\/\" title=\"Kamala Harris Asks Big Tech, Wall Street to Join Hillary Clinton in Crafting Policy Advice\">illegal crossers<\/a> apprehended significantly outnumbered those in the past\u2062 decade. \u2064Many of\u2063 these individuals were from diverse nationalities including a considerable number from Mexico, prompting speculation about involvement of Mexican drug cartels.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200c hearing also \u2064touched on\u200b the\u200b rampant issue of\u2064 drugs, particularly fentanyl, affecting communities in\u2064 North Dakota, a problem Representative Kelly Armstrong emphasized \u200bas involving drug cartels from\u200b Mexico according to his view, although federal \u2064authorities have traced some \u200dfentanyl sources to China.\u200b Armstrong expressed a \u200bfirm desire \u2064to stop the drug influx irrespective of \u2063its origins.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, delayed\u2063 operational hours at U.S. border crossings \u2062since the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed, with local leaders expressing concerns about\u200c impacts on travel and local\u200c economies. The hearing,\u200c titled &#8220;The\u2064 Biden \u200bBorder \u200bCrisis: North Dakota Perspectives,&#8221;\u200c occurred without Democratic participation,\u2063 highlighting \u200ba partisan divide. House Democrats were noted to have declined invitations\u200b to join the Northern Border Security\u2062 Caucus, as well \u2062as the\u200d hearing itself,\u200c which aimed to raise \u2062awareness about drug proliferation,\u2062 smuggling, and national security issues on\u200d the northern border.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>To deal with a reported record number of border crossings, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-of-representatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>House<\/a> Republicans recently held <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?535972-1\/house-judiciary-subcommittee-field-hearing-impact-border-crisis-north-dakota\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>a subcommittee hearing<\/a> \u2014 in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/north-dakota\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>North Dakota<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That may seem odd, with the federal government and many southern border states locked in a struggle over what to do about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vp-harris-laughs-when-asked-why-she-hasnt-visited-southern-border\/\" title=\"VP Harris Laughs When Asked Why She Hasn't Visited Southern Border\">migrants illegally crossing<\/a> into the United States from Mexico. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/?source=%2Fvideos%2Fwashington-examiners-the-debrief-hugo-gurdon-dissects-bidens-flagging-agenda-both-at-home-and-abroad&#038;utm_source=google&#038;utm_medium=cpc&#038;utm_campaign=WE_Pmax_opinion&#038;gad_source=1&#038;gclid=Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqncZAN_HYejNBvkplsF8YFlvg97PrU9ZVpQw9gEfKANXeg2KlTGXhbEaAj8IEALw_wcB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>President Joe Biden<\/a> recently announced plans to curtail asylum migration in response to criticism.<\/p>\n<p>But while the U.S.-Mexico border has received the lion\u2019s share of press coverage, some strange goings-on are afoot along the 5,525-mile U.S.-Canada border as well.<\/p>\n<p>Along certain sections of the border, illegal crossings are reaching unprecedented numbers. In the border region that abuts upstate New York and parts of New England, for instance, agents characterized recent activity as a \u201cflood\u201d of illegal crossers.<\/p>\n<p>In fiscal 2023, Border Patrol agents in that sector nabbed about 7,000 illegal crossers, which was easily more than had been rounded up there in the last 10 years combined. In Boston station WBZ TV\u2019s tour of that section of the border, reporters saw part of that flood when they witnessed Border Patrol agents \u201carrest a Lithuanian national who tried to cross through the woods abutting a pond that straddles the border between Vermont and Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The nationalities of those crossers are all over the map, with a very large number at the northern border being from Mexico. One logical explanation for that is that the U.S. is between Canada and Mexico. Mexican citizens who find themselves in Canada either have to travel through the U.S. to get home or skirt the U.S. by boat. Republicans reckon that Mexican drug cartels are one big reason for this influx in illegal northern border traffic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t be further away from the Canadian border than Grand Forks,\u201d Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) said at the May 29 field hearing in that North Dakota city of nearly 59,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re 70 miles from the Canadian border, but in every single community across the state of North Dakota, somebody is dying from fentanyl poisoning,\u201d said Armstrong, the state\u2019s Republican gubernatorial nominee this fall, and with the Peace Garden State\u2019s strong GOP edge, almost certainly its next chief executive.<\/p>\n<p>Armstrong, first elected to North Dakota\u2019s lone House seat in 2018, added that \u201c100% of those fentanyl pills are made by the cartels in Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a><\/a>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/small-business-group-to-sue-biden-over-vaccine-mandate\/\" title=\"Small Business Group To Sue Biden Over Vaccine Mandate\">federal government doesn\u2019<\/a>t agree with that percentage or the country of origin for some of the fentanyl production that its agents are fighting. Last year, for instance, \u201cOn April 11, 2023, the trial of\u00a0Marie Um\u00a0commenced, in Fargo, North Dakota,\u201d the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a news release celebrating victory in that trial.<\/p>\n<p>Um, 42, extradited from Montreal, Quebec, \u201cwas part of an organization that was receiving fentanyl and fentanyl analogs from China and importing them into the United States,\u201d according to the DOJ. She was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Her case was part of \u201cOperation Denial,\u201d which has led to at least 31 defendants being charged in North Dakota and three in Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>While there is some disagreement about how these frequently lethal drugs are getting into North Dakota, and who is carrying them, there is near unanimity about the threat they represent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t particularly care how they\u2019re getting here,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cI want it to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four witnesses spoke at the field hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement: the North Dakota attorney general, two sheriffs, and the executive director of the Wahalla Area Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n<p>Matters discussed ranged from illegal entry into the U.S. to drug enforcement to the particularly North Dakotan beef over reduced operating hours at U.S. border crossings. Those hours were shortened during COVID-19 lockdowns, which made some sense at the time given the thorough Canadian lockdown and generally closed borders. The Canadian side has returned to regular hours, but many U.S. entries have not.<\/p>\n<p>This mismatch \u201ccauses considerable confusion for travelers and disrupts the daily lives and economic activities of our communities,\u201d Chamber of Commerce head Rebecca Davis complained.<\/p>\n<h2>Only Republicans on the border?<\/h2>\n<p>This is not the first time House Republicans in this Congress have highlighted problems associated with the northern border. The House Northern Border Security Caucus was founded in February 2023 to highlight problems of drug proliferation, smuggling, and national security. House Democrats were invited to join the caucus but declined.<\/p>\n<p>That was the case with the Grand Forks hearing as well, subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) noted in his opening remarks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an official hearing of the House of Representatives, and I do want to lament the absence of any Democratic members or even Democratic witnesses or staff at today\u2019s proceedings,\u201d McClintock said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the hearing\u2019s title was \u201cThe Biden Border Crisis: North Dakota Perspectives,\u201d which was not the most inviting for House Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Frederick Gagnon, a professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, thinks some matters raised by Republicans are legitimate but can quickly morph into campaign fodder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are certainly issues that require elected officials in both countries to pay more attention to the border at this time,\u201d Gagnon told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> after the formation of the Northern Border Security Caucus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a context where the majority of Americans believe that Biden is not doing the right thing on the border with Mexico, Republicans can give their message even more weight if they convince the public that Biden does not know what he is doing on the border with Canada either,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2>Canadian firearm fears<\/h2>\n<p>Concerns about the U.S.-Canada border cut both ways, Gagnon pointed out. U.S. politicians tend to focus on drug smuggling from Canada, and Canadian politicians tend to focus on guns smuggled from the U.S.\u00a0That is true of the Liberal Party,\u00a0led\u00a0by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the Conservative Party opposition as well.<\/p>\n<p>Pierre Paul-Hus is the Conservative public safety critic. He said his party wanted to \u201csee a plan that includes support for police anti-gang and gun units, a CBSA Firearms Smuggling Task Force, and increased access to mental health and addictions treatments,\u201d as an alternative to the government\u2019s push for more domestic gun control in 2020, CBC News reported.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Canadian border guards seized 548 firearms in 2020. That number has climbed, but not by much with increased, post-pandemic border traffic factored in.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, border agents seized 874 firearms coming into Canada, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. In that same year, an estimated 14 million firearms were purchased in the U.S.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Republicans addressed a record number of border crossings by holding a subcommittee hearing in North Dakota, despite the ongoing struggle between the federal government and southern border states over illegal crossings from Mexico. This location choice may seem unusual given the circumstances. President Joe Biden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2692,"featured_media":2267667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/us-canada-border.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2267666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/us-canada-border.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2692"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2267666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2267667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2267666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2267666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2267666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}