Thune on Republicans’ Fight to Secure America

“Republican policies are to have the back of law enforcement to ensure they have the resources, the personnel, the technology - everything they need to keep our border secure - and to ensure that our nation’s laws are enforced …”

Click here to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership:

Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):

“Last Thursday was the 102nd anniversary of the Border Patrol in this country.

“And as we celebrate 250 years for America, I think it’s interesting to also observe that we have had an agency like … Border Patrol defending our borders now for over 100 years.

“And if you think about what they’ve done just in this last year, it’s pretty remarkable, because what we inherited from the Biden administration was the most open border that we’ve ever seen – literally millions of people crawling, pouring across the border, literally every single year, illegally.

“And in a year’s time, Border Patrol has completely cleaned that up, to the point, as, I think it was the month of April, there was an entire year where there hadn’t been a single illegal released into the country.

“And so a truly remarkable record and a tribute to the men and women, the dedicated men and women who make the Border Patrol work.

“And Rodney Scott, the commissioner, has said that the mission of the Border Patrol has never changed; what has changed is that now their members, their agents, are able to do their jobs, the jobs that lawfully we ask them to do.

“And so, tremendous change from one administration to the other, literally, in the time span of a year, Border Patrol has done just a truly incredible job of securing our southern border.

“And that’s what we are committed to doing as Republicans here in the Senate, and we, as we move forward on the Secure [America] Act this week, intend to ensure that law enforcement – both ICE and CBP – have the resources they need to carry out the responsibilities that they are given by the American people.

“And I believe the American people are on our side on this issue.

“They do not want to defund the police, they don’t want open borders.

“Those are Democrat policies.

“Republican policies are to have the back of law enforcement to ensure they have the resources, the personnel, the technology – everything they need to keep our border secure – and to ensure that our nation’s laws are enforced, so that our communities in this country can be safe and secure for the people who live here, for our families.”