The White House • January 29, 2019

Here is the crisis Democrats say doesn’t exist  One of the biggest lies told about immigration is that border security is anti-immigrant. Legal immigrants and American citizens alike—not to mention our brave law enforcement officers—are the victims of lawlessness at our Nation’s doorstep every single day. Consider these stats. In just the past 2 years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested more than 260,000 criminals who exploited our broken immigration system. This list includes those charged with or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 homicides. That’s the debate at hand. One side thinks the murder of 4,000 people is a crisis that our Government is accountable for solving. The other says it’s a “manufactured” problem. No one argues that border security will stop all crime in America. We need other steps—such as the criminal justice reform signed into law by President Donald J. Trump last month—to make our communities safer, as well. But there is no question that better border security will save lives. Pretending it won’t is Washington cynicism at its worst. Americans can no longer afford for Congress to punt on this issue. The consequences of a broken immigration system aren’t going away on their own. For example, in just the past 6 weeks alone: A U.S. Border Patrol officer was assaulted by a criminal alien that crossed the border in Arizona.   Two suspected MS-13 gang members from Honduras were arrested last week after they illegally entered the United States.   A group of 306 Central Americans gave themselves up to Border Patrol agents in the Arizona desert, where smugglers often leave sick or abused migrants for dead after they cross the border illegally.   Border Patrol officers arrested four narcotics smugglers in Texas—discovering more than 190 pounds of drugs.   Border Patrol agents arrested two convicted sex offenders in Arizona, both convicted of crimes involving minors.   Watch how smugglers easily exploit America’s southern border. Get the facts: A crisis that is too urgent to ignore Photo of the Day Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead President Donald J. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen examine weapons and drugs confiscated by U.S. border officials at a roundtable in McAllen, Texas | January 10, 2019