Florida Senate - 2024                                     SM 598
       
       
        
       By Senator Ingoglia
       
       
       
       
       
       11-00199B-24                                           2024598__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial urging the Federal Government to secure the
    3         southern border of the United States and fix the legal
    4         immigration system.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, the Federal Government has failed to effectively
    7  enforce existing immigration laws, which has led to a surge in
    8  the number of unauthorized border crossings along the southern
    9  border of the United States, and
   10         WHEREAS, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
   11  reported 183,503 alien encounters along the southwest border of
   12  the United States in July 2023, which represents a stunning 357
   13  percent increase as compared to July 2018, and
   14         WHEREAS, CBP reported 231,529 alien encounters along the
   15  southwest border of the United States in October of 2023, and
   16         WHEREAS, CBP reported 7,047,387 alien encounters along the
   17  southwest border of the United States since January 2020, and
   18         WHEREAS, with the surge of unauthorized border crossings,
   19  numerous states, including Florida, have been burdened with a
   20  corresponding increase in violent crime, gang activity, the
   21  trafficking of dangerous drugs, such as fentanyl, sex
   22  trafficking, human trafficking, and the threat of infectious
   23  diseases, and
   24         WHEREAS, the astronomical increase in the number of aliens
   25  flooding in through the southwest border has overwhelmed the
   26  resources of CBP, greatly increasing the threat of terrorism,
   27  given that there are more than 1 million people on the Federal
   28  Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Database, and
   29         WHEREAS, at the same time, Secretary of Homeland Security
   30  Alejandro Mayorkas has increased the number of aliens seeking
   31  asylum who may be admitted into the United States through the
   32  ill-conceived expansion of usage of the CBP One mobile
   33  application, and
   34         WHEREAS, most of the aliens processed through the CBP One
   35  mobile application will be released into the interior of the
   36  United States, regardless of whether they are granted parole or
   37  are claiming asylum, and
   38         WHEREAS, with the expiration of the Title 42 policy enacted
   39  during the COVID-19 public health emergency, which allowed
   40  authorities to turn away migrants at the United States border,
   41  and the suspension of border wall system construction by the
   42  Biden Administration, illegal crossings along the southern
   43  border are likely to continue to increase, and
   44         WHEREAS, order at the southern border has deteriorated to
   45  such an extent that several counties in Texas along the border
   46  of the United States and Mexico have declared states of
   47  emergency in response to the invasion of illegal aliens, and
   48         WHEREAS, the myriad threats to our nation that result from
   49  the collapse of order and security at the southern border not
   50  only impose a tremendous fiscal burden on the taxpaying public
   51  but also have an emotional cost, as Americans’ sense of security
   52  and safety within their own communities is compromised, not only
   53  in this state, but in every corner of this nation, and
   54         WHEREAS, the policies of the Biden Administration at our
   55  southern border threaten the very foundation of the American way
   56  of life, NOW, THEREFORE,
   57  
   58  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   59  
   60         That the Federal Government is urged to secure the southern
   61  border of the United States and fix the legal immigration
   62  system.
   63         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch
   64  copies of this memorial to the President of the United States,
   65  the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the
   66  United States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the
   67  United States Department of Homeland Security, and each member
   68  of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.