{"id":23248,"date":"2024-05-29T15:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T19:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=23248"},"modified":"2024-05-29T15:00:24","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T19:00:24","slug":"from-southern-border-sen-ossoff-again-warns-of-terrorism-threat-without-bipartisan-border-security-legislation","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/from-southern-border-sen-ossoff-again-warns-of-terrorism-threat-without-bipartisan-border-security-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"From Southern Border, Sen. Ossoff Again Warns of Terrorism Threat Without Bipartisan Border Security Legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

El Paso, Tx. <\/strong>\u2014 Today from the Southern Border, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff again warned of the threat of terrorism without bipartisan border security legislation. Senate Republicans blocked the bipartisan border security bill last week. Sen. Ossoff also urged the Biden Administration to use its executive authorities to strengthen border security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff continues sounding the alarm on the terrorism threat at the southern border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe threat of terrorism associated with unlawful entry to the United States is real. It is urgent. Congress must act, and the Biden Administration must use its executive authorities to the greatest extent possible to protect the nation,\u201d\u00a0Sen. Ossoff said.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Texas and New Mexico, Sen. Ossoff inspected the Paso del Norte port of entry, the area of operations for Border Patrol\u2019s El Paso station, and detention facilities. He also met with U.S. law enforcement and national security officials and Mexican law enforcement officials in Juarez, Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Sen. Ossoff delivered a Senate Floor Address<\/a> warning of a \u201cgrave national security risk\u201d if the bipartisan border security bill was blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, during a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Sen. Ossoff raised concerns with FBI Director Christopher Wray<\/a> over the threat terrorism associated with unlawful entry through the southern border poses to U.S. national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with The Atlanta-Journal Constitution<\/em> in December<\/a>, Sen. Ossoff noted the failure to achieve compromise over the last decade, adding, \u201cThe disorder and chaos at the border is a real national security issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in January, after reports that Donald Trump lobbied Republicans<\/a> to sabotage bipartisan border security efforts because he wants to campaign on the issue in November, Sen. Ossoff urged Republicans<\/a> to defy Trump\u2019s efforts to sabotage the bipartisan border security bill and again warned of the terrorism threat associated with unlawful entry at the southern border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has also worked across the aisle to advance and pass bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing fentanyl trafficking; surging more border agents; and deploying new technology to secure the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, the Sen. Ossoff-backed bipartisan Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act <\/em>became law<\/a>, which will sanction drug cartels and combat money laundering by the criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, Sen. Ossoff helped pass<\/a> the bipartisan Border<\/em> Enforcement, Security, and Trade (BEST) Facilitation Act<\/em> through the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to strengthen border security by providing additional CBP officers to scan cargo for illegal drugs and guns or human smuggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, Sen. Ossoff introduced<\/a> the Deploy Fentanyl Scanners Act of 2024<\/em> to help deploy scanners at ports of entry to better identify contraband, including fentanyl, being smuggled across the border through personal vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Sen. Ossoff helped pass the bipartisan Securing America\u2019s Ports of Entry Act<\/em><\/a> through the U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, which would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hire, train, and assign no less than 600 additional CBP officers a year, until the agency\u2019s staffing needs are met, to secure ports of entry across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Sen. Ossoff also helped pass the bipartisan Border Patrol Enhancement Act<\/em><\/a> <\/em>through the U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee to ensure U.S. Border Patrol can hire, train, and fairly pay law enforcement officers who are keeping our borders safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Fox News<\/em><\/a> in 2022, Sen. Ossoff placed blame on both parties for failing to achieve meaningful immigration reform, saying \u201cDemocrats are afraid to talk about border security, and Republicans are afraid to talk about establishing a path to legal status for the folks who are here and otherwise follow the law who are part of our society, and until we\u2019re willing to acknowledge that, and until we\u2019re willing on that basis to pass legislation that secures the border and that addresses the undocumented persons who otherwise follow the law in this country at a time when we have severe workforce shortages, we\u2019re going to be re-litigating these same issues year after year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, Sen. Ossoff also pressed a Biden Administration official<\/a> during a U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the Administration\u2019s plans to manage a projected influx of migrants into the U.S. that summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

El Paso, Tx. \u2014 Today from the Southern Border, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff again warned of the threat of terrorism without bipartisan border security legislation. Senate Republicans blocked the bipartisan border security bill last week. Sen. Ossoff also urged the Biden Administration to use its executive authorities to strengthen border security. Sen. Ossoff continues sounding the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23248","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/23248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/23248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23254,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/23248\/revisions\/23254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}