Rep. John Curtis says Biden border policies are ‘hurting Utahns’ and ‘hurting Americans’

Utah Rep. John Curtis spoke during a House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations meeting Wednesday, where he called the Biden administration’s border policies an “unmitigated, embarrassing, unforgivable disaster.”

Curtis was quoting Rep. Dean Philips, D-Minn., in an interview with News Nation on Jan. 13. Philips is challenging President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary.

Curtis, who represents Utah’s 3rd District, said he was basing his comments on multiple trips to the border during both the Trump and Biden administrations. “I don’t know how anybody, regardless of political persuasion, can feel good about what’s happening down there,” he said.

Curtis cites the 300% increase in fentanyl overdose deaths in St. George

Curtis cited an article from The Washington Post that dealt with fentanyl trafficking in St. George in southwestern Utah.

“I live in a state far away from the border, and it’s a big issue. It may be the No. 1 issue in my district. I understand that we have policy disagreements, but we’re hurting Utahns, and we’re hurting Americans,” he said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a press release on the case in late July 2023, linking drug trafficker Angel Rubio-Quintana to a Mexican cartel. Federal agents concluded that this two-year case in southern Utah involved 3.5 kilograms of meth, 45 pounds of marijuana and “thousands of fentanyl pills.”

Rubio-Quintana sent more than $58,000 in wire transfers to Mexican drug suppliers, and the DEA described him as “the leader of one of the most prolific and sophisticated drug trafficking organizations in southern Utah.”

Since Rubio-Quintana started traficking, “fentanyl overdose deaths have increased 300% in this three-year period in this Utah town,” Curtis said.

Though he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2023, Curtis said his actions continue to impact St. George.

“The DEA estimates there were 541 overdose deaths in Utah in 2022 with opioids attributing to 74% of those, and fentanyl deaths were 122 in 2019,” Curtis said. “With open borders, they’re not safe. My district doesn’t feel safe, and it’s unacceptable on every level.”

Rep. Griffith: 85,000 migrant children have been lost

The chairman of the committee, Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said the meeting could act as an opportunity to reevaluate conditions at the southern border, which he said “have only deteriorated” since the last time they met in 2023.

Griffith cited reporting from The New York Times that the Department of Health and Human Services “lost immediate contact with a third of migrant children” after they were left in the care of sponsors.

“This is due to the complete failure of the HHS to implement proper vetting processes that include detailed background checks consisting of FBI background checks and finger printing,” Griffith said.

Though the department took preventative measures in September 2023, Griffith claimed the latest rule doesn’t solve the issue. The changes make “the vetting process optional to examine living conditions, conduct background checks, and interview the sponsors before the minor is placed with them.”