A hearing in Arizona organized by House Republicans focused on the challenges of the recent surge of illegal immigrants, including what local officials describe as a difficult burden.
Republicans in Congress spearheaded a number of major hearings on the current border crisis. The most recent was held in Yuma, Arizona, which has taken on disproportionate burdens by the flow of illegal immigrants across the border.
What the members of Congress heard was startling, and showed the extent of the expanding crisis.
At @JudiciaryGOP's hearing in Yuma, Arizona @Jim_Jordan explained the crisis at the border. pic.twitter.com/nUeg0oukB2
— FAIR (@FAIRImmigration) February 23, 2023
The hearings focus on the real-world concern about those along the southern border and beyond. In particular, the House Judiciary Committee invited a number of officials from near the Mexican border. This included a supervisor from Yuma County, the county’s sheriff, and the head of the local hospital.
According to each, the pressure from the thousands of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States is creating massive pressure in the area. Customs and Border Patrol data show that the area around Yuma has taken on hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.
In particular, the aforementioned hospital was saddled with more than $25 million in unpaid bills for services provided to illegal immigrants. The testimony also cited that the needs of the migrants delayed care for American citizens or forced their transfer to Phoenix.
The hospital’s operations were recently described as being on the brink of collapse.
The recent hearings show the extent of the growing border crisis. Since the start of the Biden Administration, the number of migrants attempting to cross the border has increased dramatically.
The attention on border issues was not universal. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee missed an inspection of gaps in the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
While more than a dozen Republicans, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), arrived on the scene, they were not joined by their Democratic colleagues. Their decision was ripped by the committee’s chair, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who said that “maybe they didn’t want to show up for that reason — because it’s such a mess.”
