Rep. Harley Rouda Statement on Border and Port Security

For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrew Noh
202-225-2415
noh@mail.house.gov

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Today, Representative Harley Rouda (CA-48), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and House Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued the following statement on border and port security at our Southern Border.

“I have consistently made clear that I support a solution that utilizes modern technology, not a stone age solution that will destroy our environment and take private property from our citizens,” said Representative Harley Rouda (CA-48). “Improving border and port security has always been a bipartisan goal. Republicans and Democrats agree that we need to utilize advanced technology at our borders to scan for drugs, weapons, contraband, and unauthorized crossings while also funding the more than 3,000 customs officer vacancies.”

“We need to focus on the facts – the majority of drugs come in through legal ports of entry via personal automobiles or mixed with legal goods in tractor-trailers. 4,813 pounds of heroin were seized during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2018 at ports of entry. During the same period, U.S. Border Patrol, which works between legal ports of entry, seized 532 pounds of heroin. Authorities have also discovered over 200 tunnels since 1990 used to traffic drugs. These tunnels are primarily found in California and Arizona where fencing currently exists.”

“The idea that terrorists are suddenly flooding our Southern Border is another falsehood used to obfuscate the truth about border and port security. The fact is that these individuals are interdicted before they board an airplane and approach our borders – they were not caught between the ports or at ports of entry.”

“Wasting money on an ineffective and archaic wall does nothing to secure the border because it diverts needed resources away from proven technologies that work best. It is my firm belief that border and port security is best addressed through infrastructure policy, not by holding hundreds of thousands of federal employees hostage. By investing in infrastructure, we can ensure more comprehensive and thorough vehicle screenings at ports of entry, improve surveillance and monitoring, and fund additional customs agents at ports of entry. I urge the President to reopen the government, so we can begin work on a national infrastructure package that protects the environment, secures our border, combats climate change, and incentivizes economic growth.”

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