Capito urges Biden to take action on southern border crisis

Jan. 27—Securing the southern border is a necessary step in solving the crisis of record numbers of migrants coming into the country, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said Thursday.

Capito said during a virtual press briefing another record was set in December as more than 250,000 migrants were apprehended.

The numbers are "skyrocketing," she said, and there is still no plan in place to be used as a deterrent, and migrants are "signaled" that they can come here and get into the country easily through an "open border."

Pres. Joe Biden finally went to the border for the first time since he has been in office, she added. "Now, we need to see if he is willing to actually do something about it."

One of the first things would be to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy that was in place during the Trump administration.

Capito said that would mean getting information from those seeking asylum but then sending them back into Mexico while their information is being processed and vetted, rather than releasing them into the country and taking five to seven years to process their applications.

In the future, a more "immediate decision" needs to be made at the border, she added.

But that takes resources, she said, and in the meantime more resources must be directed at border security.

A broader, comprehensive immigration bill is needed, but the border must be secure.

Capito said she does not know if the will of Congress or the President is there to make it happen, but something must be done, especially considering the amount of the deadly fentanyl crossing the border and spreading all over the country.

Capito also said the debt limit debate continues and she is hopeful Pres. Biden will decide to work with House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy on a way to continue to fund the government, but also do something about the national debt, which is now in excess of $31 trillion.

But the White House said there will be no negotiations.

"I think the President needs to negotiate with the Speaker," she said, because "adjustments" need to be made to get spending under control.

Capito also said she and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced the bipartisan NOTAM Improvement Act to help prevent future Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system outages.

An outage on Jan. 11 impacted air traffic around the country.

"After the Notice to Air Missions system failure grounded air traffic in the United States on January 11, it is imperative that a group of aviation experts be assembled to look at ways to improve this vital safety system," Capito said. "That's exactly what our legislation would do, and I am proud to help lead this effort that will help strengthen the NOTAM system for pilots and essential personnel. I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this bill passed quickly and sent to the president's desk."

Capito said it is also a safety issue and the industry needs to get rid of "antiquated systems."

She also wants full accountability of what happened and why it happened.

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com