Senate Democrats are pushing for $106 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine , Israel , and Taiwan . Many Senate Republicans are willing to approve that aid, but only in exchange for policy reforms that secure the southern border. Tying funding for one matter to policy reforms on another is a common political tool. And no one can deny the scale of the problem at the border or the urgent need to fix the unprecedented crisis that poses such clear national security risks and fiscal burdens on workers and taxpayers.

Migrants are crossing the border at the fastest pace in history, committing asylum fraud and abusing parole loopholes to gain access to American jobs. In fiscal 2023, law enforcement recorded more than 3.2 million encounters with migrants, a new record that shattered the all-time highs of 2.7 million encounters in 2022 and 1.9 million encounters in 2021 .

In addition to those encountered, processed, and released, there are the "gotaways," those people crossing illegally and disappearing into the interior of the country.

Information on "gotaways" isn't widely reported. The only time we get a glimpse is when officials drop the number in front of Congress, respond to a data request, or leak it to the media.

Since the Biden administration took over, an estimated 1.6 million known gotaways have crossed illegally into the United States and disappeared into the interior. Leakers have suggested 1,000 known gotaways per day since October began, and border officials indicate that for every known gotaway, the number of unknowns , those who get in without being detected, is considerably higher. The data are obfuscated by this administration's decisions to reduce surveillance equipment on the border that makes such observations possible.

This administration, in refusing to complete actual barriers already funded for construction, has eliminated the ability to have operational control of the border and has chosen to pull Border Patrol agents off the front line to process illegal immigrants rather than apprehend them.

These outrageous numbers overwhelm the infrastructure in local municipalities and cities. New York City Mayor Eric Adams indicated that with only 125,000 immigrants having descended on that great city, it has had to cut services to citizens dramatically due to the $1.5 billion spent on the migrant surge for the fiscal year. The city expects to spend about $11 billion on immigrants over the next two fiscal years.

Remember, there are more than 300,000 encounters occurring with those attempting to enter the U.S. illegally every month.

These crossings pose a threat to national security. Any number of bad actors could be embedded among the thousands of people crossing the border each day. Just this year, border agents apprehended 172 people on the FBI's terrorist watchlist — a total that's higher than the last six fiscal years combined .

The lack of a mandated worker verification system such as E-Verify allows these unprecedented numbers of immigrants to flood the labor market, which depresses workers' wages. Some members of Congress have argued that this enormous level of illegal immigration is beneficial since lower wages will lead to lower inflation. However, reducing inflation at the cost of lower take-home pay for workers is a high price to pay for higher profits for the political donor class.

One would think that more than 7.5 million illegal immigrants , equal to the population of the Philadelphia metro area, crossing our borders would constitute a crisis worthy of immediate action.

To its credit, the House of Representatives has responded by passing the Secure the Border Act. This legislation ends asylum fraud, closes immigration parole loopholes, mandates E-Verify to ensure legal employment, and prevents "catch and release." The House Homeland Security Committee components call for resuming border wall construction, supporting local law enforcement, and bolstering Customs and Border Protection personnel, resources, and technology.

This is far better than simply throwing more money at the problem. Without real policy changes, additional funds would simply accelerate the "catch and release" process that attracts those crossing the border illegally today.

The Senate may soon decide to appropriate a vast sum of money to help Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan secure their borders. It's eminently reasonable for lawmakers to condition such aid on securing our own border. Any "must-pass legislation" must contain the Secure the Border Act provisions to regain control of the southern border.

James Massa is the CEO of NumbersUSA .