HARRISBURG — Two Republicans in the Pennsylvania House plan to introduce separate resolutions urging the commonwealth to support Texas in its standoff against the federal government concerning illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Rep. Mike Cabell, R-Luzerne County, and Rep. Stephanie Borowicz R-Union/Clinton, each are circulating co-sponsorship memos to fellow House members in support of their respective resolutions.
The Biden Administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are clashing over the governor’s authorization of the installation of razor wire along the Rio Grande intended to prevent illegal border crossings. Texas has blocked access to federal agents to a particular spot at Eagle Pass where crossings are busiest, according to The Associated Press.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling this week allowing border patrol agents to cut or clear the wire. The White House and the Justice Department have said the wire stymies enforcement efforts and risks causing injury and preventing the rescue of migrants caught in the wire, the AP Reports.
The Abbott Administration has said the wire along with other enhanced enforcement measures are necessary to block illegal entry as border crossings surge.
Monthly encounters at the southern border tabulated by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) are at record levels including nearly 270,000 in September, the end of the fiscal year. It’s the highest monthly figure on record in federal data dating to 2014.
CBS News previously reported on internal agency data reporting more than 300,000 encounters in December, setting a new record.
CBP reports more than 6.8 million encounters with migrants — a figure representative of actual encounters with CBP, not individual people — at the southern border from the start of 2021 through November. This figure would include migrants who were met by agents for multiple attempted crossings.
At least 2.4 million migrants were released from custody for varied administrative reasons including for the initiation of removal proceedings, deferred inspection and parole for asylum seekers, the latest publicly available data shows.
More than 4 million encounters ended with expulsion, either to Mexico or a migrant’s home country, or removed from the U.S., according to the data.
According to the memo by Borowicz, her resolution would condemn the federal government on the grounds of lax enforcement at the border and offer support to Abbott and “Texas’ constitutional authority to defend its border.”
Cabell’s resolution would be a concurrent resolution, meaning both the House and Senate would have to pass it for formal acceptance.
In his memo, Cabell cites the estimated 112,000 fatal overdose deaths across the country in the 12-month period ending in May 2023. Though it’s a figure that fluctuates month to month, it continues to return exceedingly high death totals in an ongoing opioid epidemic.
Cabell’s memo states the resolution will seek to “express the General Assembly’s support for Texas in its efforts, call on Governor Josh Shapiro to join with governors from across the country in their own support of Texas, and call on President Joe Biden to stop fighting against Texas’ efforts and instead to commit the Federal government’s resources to supporting Texas in securing the border.”
The state House isn’t scheduled to reconvene a voting session until mid-March. Though a floor vote is doubtful it’s expected that following an upcoming special election to fill a House vacancy, Democrats would begin the next voting period with its one-seat majority intact.
If the resolution were to advance to the state Senate, it would move to an upper chamber under Republican control.
House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County signed as a cosponsor to both resolutions, according to a spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus.
“He firmly believes that the Biden administration has failed in its responsibility to secure the border from illegal immigration and given the current situation on the border, that Texas and similarly positioned states have the right to defend themselves,” Jason Gottesman, Cutler’s press secretary, said.
A spokesperson for House Democrats declined to comment. Shapiro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Top state Senate Republicans — President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, Majority Leader Joe Pittman and Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin — issued a joint statement Friday in support of Abbott’s actions at the border. Their statement did not refer to the pending House resolutions.
“We encourage Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to cross partisan lines and join the 25 other governors who have expressed support for Governor Abbott. We also ask that our entire federal congressional delegation join together in demanding that the Biden Administration fulfill its constitutional responsibility to the states and to the protection of our citizens,” according to the joint statement.