Senator Bill Hagarty
United States Senator Bill Hagerty on Wednesday again sought to pass his “Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act” legislation, which would add large-scale drug smuggling as an additional basis for Title 42 expedited removal immigration authority, but Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) blocked the legislation, despite that Title 42 was scheduled to expire Wednesday depending on court action.
Senator Hagerty spoke on the Senate floor "about the national security and humanitarian crisis transpiring at the southern border and warned that once Title 42 ends, the already-record-breaking crisis will get far worse. Senate Democrats blocked this bill in April, and again in November, but given the new urgency of this week’s expiration date, I once again urged the Senate to take this commonsense step to preserve Title 42 authority.
"Border Patrol agents have repeatedly warned that Title 42 is the last tool left for slowing down the record number of illegal border crossers and the fentanyl coming across our southern border and that, upon its expiration, there will likely be a completely unmanageable 15,000 to 18,000 illegal migrants crossing the border daily. Yet, Democrats refused to allow its passage for the third time this year."