NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE F or over two years now, the most powerful nation in the history of the world has not had operational control of its southern border. Instead, the border is controlled primarily by a mix of cartels, Biden-administration bureaucrats stoking lawlessness and danger, and radical leftist organizations fulfilling his agenda by facilitating things on the ground.

The results have been tragic but predictable: tens of thousands of Americans dead from fentanyl; thousands of abused and dead migrants; richer and more-powerful cartels; a weaker Western Hemisphere with Mexico turning into a full-blown narco-terror state; a stronger China; and increased costs for American taxpayers — especially those in Texas and our sister border states.

This must end. It is our duty as elected leaders to stop it. To do so, we must end the policy of automatically releasing people into the United States before their claims for entry have been fully adjudicated.

The reason for the chaos is simple. The Biden administration “encounters and releases” most individuals who come to our border, hiding behind and abusing our limited legal “exceptions”: asylum and parole. Our laws require that we process the legitimate claims of those truly fearing persecution without first releasing them into the United States. Instead, the Biden administration is releasing thousands almost immediately, driving the continued surge.

It is time for Congress to act. There are three paths we can choose: impeachment, legislation, and — most important — the power of the purse.

Impeachment

My friend Andy McCarthy recently pointed out that President Biden violated his oath and his duty to defend the U.S. because Biden did not merely cause the border crisis, but “willfully exacerbated it, not out of incompetence but because it’s what his radical base demands.” While some of my colleagues question how this qualifies as a “high crime and misdemeanor,” the truth of malfeasance — not maladministration — is plain. Indeed, my office drafted the case for impeaching the president’s homeland-security secretary almost 18 months ago.

Yes, impeachment in the House would likely fall short in the Senate, and even if successful, would only leave Kamala Harris, Biden’s own failed “border czar” in charge. (Along with DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who should have been impeached already.) But, as Andy notes, “impeachment would grip the nation’s attention . . . [and] would rivet Americans nationwide to the shocking scenes at the border, to the disaster Biden’s policies have wrought for affected communities.” This is correct. Our founders provided Article I with the “sole power” of impeachment as a necessary check and balance on a runaway executive branch. We should use it. But it’s not the only tool.

Legislation

The Constitution provides that Congress “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” for carrying out its duties in Article I. Congress not only can pass laws that the administration must abide by, but it also has a duty to make these laws.

There are many approaches to stop the brazen and unlawful release of individuals. For example, the Texas delegation has laid out some ideas in the “Texas Border Plan.” Senators Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) have put forth the Immigration Parole Reform Act. Representative Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.) has put forth the Stopping Border Surges Act. I have put forth H.R.29, the Border Safety and Security Act, which would simply require DHS to detain illegal immigrants until their claim has been adjudicated — something current law already mandates. This simple bill would prevent the administration from mass-releasing illegal immigrants into the interior — ending a major incentive for more illegal immigration. It is both necessary and proper.

The need to confront the border crisis is why so many Republicans campaigned explicitly on Title 42, the public-health authority that gave “turn away” power to DHS during the Covid “emergency.” It is also why so many Republicans campaigned on President Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, which allowed asylum seekers to enter the U.S. after their claim has been adjudicated. The result was a massive drop-off in the border surge.

Republicans who claim that legislation such as H.R. 29, or legislation that tightens the definition of asylum or parole, would “ban” asylum have a duty to explain their continued support for Title 42 or Trump-era MPP, lest anyone think those policies were “un-Christian” or uncompassionate.

The Power of the Purse

James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 58 that the power of the purse is “the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people.” As we head into the 2024 budget and appropriations cycle, highlighted by the looming reality of again hitting our nation’s debt ceiling, Congress can and should use the power of the purse to demand that we protect Americans and migrants.

This doesn’t simply mean shifting some of the eye-popping numbers from border encounters to equally abusive and unlawful “expanded parole programs.” It means forcing DHS “leadership” to do its job. The budget of DHS is $60.7 billion. We must secure the homeland with those taxed, borrowed, and printed funds. Doing so should be one of the contingencies both for an increased debt ceiling and for the funding of government. This is not a threat meant to get attention; this is Congress’s duty.

While this border crisis might not be solved by any single Article I power alone, there is no excuse for not trying any of them. As my friend Andy also points out regarding the Supreme Court’s posture on what seems like a never-ending Title 42 judicial merry-go-round, “the Supreme Court was never going to relieve congressional Republicans of their burden. The Court is powerless to secure the border.”

Indeed, if Congress doesn’t step in to fight for a secure border, we will only see more fentanyl and migrant deaths at the hands of cartels, more human trafficking and smuggling, more cartel profits, more broken laws, and more executive-branch failure of both Americans and of the migrants seeking to come here.

There are only three branches of the federal government. If not Congress, then no one else will put an end to this crisis. It’s time for us to do the hard work that Congress is meant for. There are no other options.