WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Mike Turner (OH-10), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Congressman Michael McCaul (TX-10), Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, introduced the Border Security and Enforcement Block Grant Act of 2024, legislation that would provide federal grant funding for southwestern states to establish or repair physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Furthermore, this bill would allow states to circumvent any administration seeking to prohibit the creation of a border barrier. By providing states with federal funding in block grant form, this bill authorizes states to act independently to address their needs.
“Since President Biden took office, roughly seven million migrants have unlawfully crossed our southern border, highlighting the need for a defensive barrier,” said Congressman Mike Turner. “The legislation that Chairman McCaul and I have introduced would inhibit the flow of illegal migration by providing southwestern states with federal grant funding to construct or repair existing physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. The United States is facing its greatest risk of a terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11, and the porous state of the southern border represents a significant threat to our country’s security posture. To make certain that our communities are protected against violent criminals and illicit drugs like fentanyl, we must secure the border.”
“The Biden administration’s refusal to secure our border has led to terrorism threat levels unlike anything we’ve seen since 9/11, with ‘blinking red lights everywhere,’ to quote FBI Director Wray. As a lifelong Texan, a former federal prosecutor, and a national security chairman, I take that warning extremely seriously,” said Congressman Michael McCaul. “Our bill would provide states with the resources to do what President Biden should have done long ago: close the holes along the border and stop the constant flow of threats into the interior.”
Background:
Since January 2021, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered more than 9 million immigrants illegally entering the U.S. from all borders — not including the nearly 2 million known gotaways. Nearly 15,000 of those immigrants encountered in this fiscal year alone (FY24) have held criminal histories, convictions, or outstanding warrants. Of those with criminal histories, 195 were known gang members. Additionally, 76 known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at our southern border in FY24.
This legislation would combat this national security threat by establishing a federal grant program to help states construct, maintain, improve, and repair physical border barriers along their southern border — mitigating the dangerous border crisis and ensuring state and local resources are used to benefit state residents.
Read the full text of the bill here.
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