On Tuesday, the Biden administration received a reality check when Arizona law enforcement and medical officials provided a blistering assessment of border policies and their negative impact across America.
Arguing that the Biden administration’s incentivized influx of illegal immigrants has a “devastating” impact on Arizona communities and beyond, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb warned: “What is happening in my back yard today will be in your front yard tomorrow.”
Lamb shared his comments during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing titled, “Every State is a Border State: Examining Secretary Mayorkas’ Border Crisis.”
The hearing is part of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s pledge to investigate the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis.
Mincing no words, Lamb accused President Joe Biden of fueling the crisis by incentivizing illegal immigration and drug and human trafficking.
Citing the testimony of illegal immigrants brought into custody, Lamb said: “When we ask people why they came here, they said, ‘Because Joe Biden said we could.’ And this is the reality of what we deal with every day.”
Lamb continued: “So clearly, the policies that have been — whether you call them open borders or not — they are affecting people coming here, and the cartels are taking advantage and marketing to people in other countries to come.”
Lamb argued that Biden administration policies negatively impact the immigrants themselves, noting how cartels often abuse, rape, and extort funds from those making their way to the United States.
Lamb explained: “We, and by default, our lack of policies or weak border security is actually bringing those people to the doorsteps of the cartels to be enslaved, to be taken advantage of.”
When asked for examples of the negative impact of illegal immigrants on Arizona communities, Lamb cited property destruction, “rampant littering,” drug activity and overall increased crime.
Noting that not all illegal immigrants were involved in criminal behavior, Lamb testified that many are victims — victims of the Biden administration: “The people are being tricked and trapped into coming here by these cartels because of our policies, or lack of.”
“When they come here, the women are being raped,” Lamb reported. “We had a woman we caught a while back that had a baggie full of pills. And we said, ‘What are these pills?’ And she said, ‘When I came across the border, I knew I’d be raped multiple times. These are morning-after pills.'”
Lamb continued: “Have we lost our moral compass so bad that we put politics in front of people? They’re raping the women … raping the children, using them as pawns, oftentimes putting them into the sex trade here in America. Slavery is … super-prolific nowadays.”
The sheriff also warned that the negative impact one border state experiences because of the influx of illegal immigrants will impact the nation.
“What we miss, unfortunately, has a ripple effect on the rest of the country,” Lamb said. “These things were not designed to stay in my county.”
Lamb added: “They only pass through on their way into North Carolina, New York, Alabama, and every other state in this country. What is in my backyard today will be in all of your front yards tomorrow.”
In a direct rebuke to President Biden, Lamb said: “Our biggest frustration stems from being told by this Administration and the Media that there is not a crisis at our southern border and the lie that our southern border is secure. Clearly, our statistics tell a different story. And that story is that the border is not secure.”
During the hearing, Dr. Robert Trenschel, the CEO of the Yuma Regional Medical Center, testified that local medical centers were overwhelmed by the surge of illegal immigrants.
Trenschel testified: “We have had migrant patients on dialysis, cardiac catheterization and in need of heart surgery. Many are very sick. They have long-term complications of chronic disease that have not been cared for. Some end up in the ICU for 60 days or more.”
Trenschel continued: “One of the largest cohorts we have seen are maternity patients who present with little or no prenatal care. These higher-risk pregnancies and births result in higher complication rates and longer hospital stays. Due to a lack of prenatal care, many of these babies require a stay in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit — some for a month or more at a time.”
Noting the financial impact, Trenschel testified that in 2022, one medical center (the Yuma Regional Medical Center) reported a loss of $26 million in uncompensated care to illegal immigrants.
“Let me assure you – it is not an approximation,” Trenschel said. “That number comes from a detailed review of unpaid patient bills directly attributed to migrant patients. Twenty-six million dollars in uncompensated care is not a sustainable business model … No business or service can survive ongoing large-scale expense without any offsetting revenue.”
Trenschel added: “We cannot provide completely free care to the residents of our community, so the situation is not fair and is understandably concerning to them. One hospital should not, and cannot, bear the health care costs of a national migrant problem that is deeply impacting Arizona and our community.”
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