Washington, D.C. (RELEASE) November 6, 2023 — U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and 24 colleagues in introducing the Southern Border Transparency Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to accurately report how it is handling illegal aliens encountered at the border and ensure the American people have a full accounting of the number of illegal aliens being released into the United States by the Biden administration along with information detailing where they are coming from. This bill will give the people of Wyoming a more accurate understanding of how to combat President Biden’s lawlessness that has turned the Cowboy State into a de-facto border state with fentanyl and other deadly drugs threatening to penetrate Wyoming communities at an unprecedented rate.

“The Biden administration has manipulated the numbers to hide the severity of the crisis at our southwest border for far too long,” said Lummis. “We cannot allow this administration to continue to hide from the consequences of its open-door policies. In order to stop the bleeding, we must have accurate data so we can determine the best path forward. This legislation ensures our Border Patrol agents will have the resources they need to keep our southwest border secure and stop the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities throughout Wyoming.” 

Click here to read the bill.

Background:

The chaos at the border has fueled a drug epidemic across the country including in Wyoming, where drug overdoses have doubled in the last six years. 

Murderous drug cartels have seen their profits soar under President Biden, bringing in $13 billion in 2021 from human trafficking alone. 

The Southern Border Transparency Act would require DHS to fully report how it is handling illegal aliens encountered at the border, including:

• The number of people paroled at each Point of Entry (POE) and in each Border Patrol sector.
• The number of migrants apprehended at each POE and in each Border Patrol sector, how many were granted voluntary departure, placed into expedited removal or simply released into the interior.
• The number of petitions for parole received and granted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The total number of migrants paroled into the United States each fiscal year, whether they are granted work authorization and whether they ultimately depart the United States when their parole expires.