This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. House Rep. Laurel Lee, R–Fla., slammed the Biden administration for attempting to shift the blame for the crisis at the southern border onto the GOP and former President Donald Trump.
At the Democratic National Convention, President Joe Biden implied during his address that the border crisis was Trump's fault because Trump called senators to nix his bi-partisan border bill.
During an interview with Maria Bartiromo, Fox News host of "Mornings with Maria," the congresswoman stated it was the Biden-Harris administration that allowed the crisis to happen in the first place when they ended Trump-era policies.
"The person who is lying about the reality on the southern border, is very clearly President Biden, and the American people see this. They understand that it's the last three and a half years, and the lawless policies of the Biden–Harris administration that have led us to this day," Lee told Bartiromo.
Lee noted that Biden put an end to Trump's "Migrant Protection Protocols," also known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy.
"So, there are two things that are important here, the first is that Joe Biden immediately upon taking office, suspended the policies that we know were working from the Trump administration, remained in Mexico, and this absolute corruption of the asylum system is what led us to the chaos that we see at the southern border."
In 2020, there were 20,000 migrants processed under the Remain in Mexico program. By the end of 2021, the U.S. Solicitor General told the Supreme Court that the Department of Homeland Security processed more than 671,000 migrants under the traditional process.
"He designated Kamala Harris as his border czar and put her in charge of getting control of what was happening down there. And the American people know what happened next, the millions of people crossing, the known people from the terror watch list, the human trafficking, fentanyl, the absolute disaster in his failure of leadership, and his failure to respect the law," Lee said.
Bartiromo added Biden said on Day One in office that he was going to stop all deportations. Lee responded by saying Biden is now trying to shift the blame for the border to House Republicans and Trump.
"Well, I think what he's doing now is trying to shift blame to House Republicans and President Trump, and that is an absurdity. So in addition to the power that he had to act by executive order, House Republicans sent the strongest border bill in a generation over to the Senate, where Senate Democrats failed to act," Lee said.
According to a 2021 report from Fox News, Customs and Border Patrol data show assault and domestic crimes committed by illegal migrants shot up by 400%, while homicides or manslaughter convictions committed by illegal migrants increased by 1,900% over the previous year of 2020.
"The American citizens, these innocent people who have been victims of crime, as a consequence of our absolute failure to vet and control the type of people who are coming here. This administration doesn't even know who they are, or where they are, and they've produced no plan for identifying these people or for keeping Americans safe," Lee said.
Lee is on the House Judiciary Committee, and the Homeland Security Committee, and said through her experience on those committees, she is expecting an uptick in gang violence if Harris wins the election this November.
"What we know is that when we fail to secure our border, the Mexican drug cartel will take control, and that is exactly what has happened. We know of over 400 people from the terror watch list who have entered this country. That's just the ones we know about. It poses a grave threat to our domestic security in America," Lee said.
Lee added the only solution to this problem is to reelect Trump.
"We've allowed them to come in, we failed to keep track of where they are, so absolutely, there is a grave threat to the security of our country, and it is one that they have not got under control. We need to put President Trump back in the White House, and return to those policies that will keep our border secure," Lee said.
Biden made a plethora of false claims during his DNC speech, and repeatedly called Trump a liar, despite the data proving otherwise.
"I never thought I would stand in front of a crowd of Democrats, and refer to the president as a liar so many times. No, I'm not trying to be funny, it's sad. Trump continues to lie about the border. Here's what he won't tell you, Trump killed the strongest bi-partisan border deal in the history of the United States," Biden said, "That we negotiated with the Senate Republicans in four weeks. Once it passed, they never acknowledged those expansive border changes in American history. He called senators to say 'Don't support the bipartisan bill,' he said it would help me politically, and hurt him politically. My God."
Biden took credit for the recent drop in encounters, however, the executive order he enacted in June, is very similar to Trump's remain-in-Mexico policy – the same policy Biden ended on his first day in office.
"Typically Trump once again putting himself first, and America last. I had to take executive action, and the result of the executive action I took was – that border encounters have dropped by over 50% there are fewer border crossings today than when Donald Trump left office, and unlike Trump, we will not demonize immigrants, saying they're the poison of blood of America. Poison the blood of our country. Kamala and I are committed to strengthening legal immigration, including protecting DREAMERS and more," Biden said.
A report from the Homeland Security Committee published in May 2024, details how the Biden administration officials are on track to hit 10 million illegal migrant encounters by the end of the fiscal year.