EL PASO, TX – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, traveled to the southern border this week to review the North Dakota National Guard (NDNG) 1st Battalion, 112th Aviation Regiment’s mission providing aviation support along the nation’s southern border. Hoeven’s visit comes as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a record 2,378,944 individuals illegally crossing the southern border in Fiscal Year 2022. The senator met with Guard members and CBP officials, and took an aerial tour of the border. The visit is part of the senator’s ongoing work to secure the border and draw attention to the illegal immigration, drug smuggling and human trafficking crisis at the border.
“Our North Dakota National Guard members and CBP are working diligently to secure our southern border, despite the policies of the Biden administration,” said Hoeven. “The Biden administration’s refusal to enforce our laws is incentivizing illegal immigration and enabling both human and drug trafficking. Border security is key to our national security.”
In addition to the illegal immigration crisis, Hoeven noted the increase in drug trafficking. In FY22, CBP seized 12,860 lbs. of fentanyl at the border, up from 11,200 lbs. seized in FY21. Fentanyl overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans age 18-45.
