WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) today released the following statement regarding reports of the border crisis coming to Chattanooga:
“This inhumane crisis, which the Biden Administration generated by dismantling commonsense border security and immigration enforcement measures, was completely avoidable. When I urged President Biden not to end the Migrant Protection Protocols, I warned that returning to a catch-and-release policy would bring the crisis to communities across the United States. Making every town a border town. A reality now being seen in Chattanooga. Drug trafficking is on the rise across Tennessee, and most disturbingly, the well-being of minor children is now jeopardized at the hands of smugglers forcing them to make the dangerous journey north. The Volunteer State is loving and welcoming, but no child should be put in this perilous position. The obvious way to end the crisis is to enhance border security and enforce our immigration laws, yet the Biden Administration is doubling down on ineffectual solutions. It’s unconscionable that they are keeping our borders open.”