Tenney Demands Answers About the Biden Administration’s Plans to Divert Resources from Veterans to Serve Illegal Immigrants

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) today joined her colleagues in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking for answers about the Biden Administration’s plans to deal with an expected surge of illegal immigrants at the Southern Border following the end of Title 42. Additionally, the letter asked about reported plans by the administration to divert medical personnel from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to the border to help process a flood of new migrants.

On April 1, the Biden Administration announced it would terminate Title 42, which allows Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to send illegal immigrants back to their home countries immediately after apprehension. A CBP source told a reporter that the Administration was considering sending VA medical personnel to help process the expected surge of illegal immigrants following removal of Title 42. The source stated that CBP anticipated a surge of up to 18,000 migrant encounters at the border every day following the end of Title 42.

Tenney has been an outspoken critic of the Biden Administration’s failed open borders policies. On August 13, 2021, Tenney first called for Secretary Mayorkas to resign due to his failure to control the crisis at the Southern Border. Tenney has also called for President Biden to resign or be impeached for surrendering American sovereignty and sacrificing our national security through his mishandling of the border crisis. Over two million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at the border since President Biden’s swearing in, and during his first year, deportations reached their lowest level in more than 20 years.

In part the lawmakers wrote, “Moving VA medical staff away from our veteran’s healthcare needs to examine illegal immigrants is a recipe for disaster. Wait times for a veteran to see their doctor can average 22 days and reach as high 42 days. This is unacceptable mismanagement of federal government resources by the Biden administration.”

The full text of the letter is available here.

Dear Secretary Mayorkas:

We write to you regarding the Biden Administration's continued mishandling of the migrant crisis occurring on the United States' southern border with Mexico. A recent news report suggested that the Biden Administration, through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is considering a disturbing new policy initiative that would send VA medical professionals to the southern border. We write to learn more about this policy proposal and the current status of the southern border.

As you know, in March 2020, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order under its Title 42 authority that allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to immediately turn away migrants at the border who may spread communicable diseases. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration recently announced that this authority will expire in May 2022.

On March 29, 2022, a CBP report indicated a surge of border-crossings was imminent due to the rescinding of this authority. The report presents a dire situation that may result in as many as 18,000 possible encounters per day. If this number proves true, this could result in over 540,000 encounters in a single month. The previous highest record of monthly encounters was 220,063 in March 2000.

Currently, CBP does not have the facilities or manpower to handle the anticipated massive surge. On March 31, a CBP source told a reporter that "If half a million people come in one month –that's an emergency. There is no way we have enough federal agents and NGO's and NGA's. There's not enough people going around." The source says that one of the ideas was to send VA medical professionals to the border to aid in examining migrants at detention centers. If this proposal is truly being considered, this is deeply troubling.

Moving VA medical staff away from our veteran’s healthcare needs to examine illegal immigrants is a recipe for disaster. Wait times for a veteran to see their doctor can average 22 days and reach as high 42 days. This is unacceptable mismanagement of federal government resources by the Biden administration.

We request answers on the following:

1. Is there a plan to send medical personnel from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the southern border?
2. We request all documents and communications between officials at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and/or the White House pertaining to the possible deployment of VA medical professionals to the southern border.

We look forward to your Department’s response. Please provide this information and all documents no later than April 27, 2022.

Sincerely,

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