Don’t Be Fooled: Here’s the True Cost of Open Borders, and It’s Enormous

Our southern border isn’t a line on a map. It’s a gaping hole in our national security and it’s bleeding us dry.

Mexican cartels flood our streets with fentanyl, traffic humans, and exploit vulnerabilities that could allow terrorists to slip through. President Joe Biden spent four years pretending it wasn’t a problem, letting chaos explode while our communities paid the price. President Donald Trump’s return offers a chance to reverse course, but half-measures won’t suffice. We must act decisively to secure the border and protect our nation.

The stakes are stark. Cartels generate an estimated $13 billion annually from human smuggling, according to the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, while pumping fentanyl across the border that the Drug Enforcement Administration says killed over 100,000 Americans in 2023. That’s more than car accidents and gun deaths combined.

In my home state of North Carolina, overdoses claimed 4,000 lives last year, a toll that could fill the L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory. Meanwhile, the risk of terrorism grows. Border Patrol has nabbed nearly 300 terrorist watch list suspects and flagged thousands of “special interest aliens” (those determined to potentially pose a national security risk) since 2018. One missed extremist and we’re staring down the next 9/11. 

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The Biden administration’s policies did nothing but exacerbate the crisis. By dismantling the “Remain in Mexico” program, which cut illegal crossings significantly during Trump’s first term, and ending Title 42 deportations, which expelled over a million migrants as the U.S. tried to protect itself from more COVID-19 cases, crossings surged. They were up 300% in the Yuma, Arizona, sector alone, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection 2021 data.

Biden also halted border wall construction and loosened asylum rules, allowing many to exploit the system by claiming they were fleeing for their lives rather than actually coming for economic opportunities, which allowed them to stay in the United States. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that nearly 160,000 released aliens failed to appear for their asylum court hearings in 2023.

While economic desperation drives some migration, the resulting chaos has empowered cartels and strained communities from Texas to New York, costing taxpayers billions in health care, law enforcement, and social services—an estimated $150 billion annually, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Trump is taking decisive action to reclaim our border, and the early results speak volumes. His administration has prioritized border wall construction, targeting 100 miles this year in hot spots like the Rio Grande Valley. Monthly arrests have risen 627% since January, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement expelling 20,000 illegal immigrants a month. Illegal crossings are down to their lowest level in decades. And CBP seized over 1,200 pounds of fentanyl in February alone. But the threat persists, and complacency isn’t an option.

The Trump administration has my full support as it rebuilds our border security from the ground up, and its momentum is setting the stage for even stronger measures. Investments in tech, like night-vision drones and artificial intelligence towers already deployed in key sectors, can be expanded to lock down more vulnerable stretches of the border. San Diego’s 50% drop in crossings shows that’s possible.

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The administration’s focus on clearing the 1.5 million-case deportation backlog is critical. Adding more ICE agents could cut that pile in half by 2027, with each agent handling 200 cases a year.

Efforts to tighten asylum rules are already on the right track. A 60-day deadline for when asylum cases should be heard and a strict standard of proven persecution if aliens remained in their home countries would slam shut the loopholes Biden left wide open. And the backing of programs like 287(g), empowering sheriffs and local law enforcement to detain illegal immigrants for ICE, can turn every county into a force multiplier.

The consequences of not acting are not speculative. They are a devastating reality in our communities. Just this month, in my district, Iredell County authorities arrested an illegal alien with enough fentanyl to kill over a million people. It’s a grim reminder of the epidemic claiming lives nationwide.

Without relentless action, every American street faces more overdoses, crime, and shattered families.

As a member of Congress, I’ve seen the toll in my district and beyond. But here’s the plain truth: We don’t need new laws or Washington hot air. We need a president with the guts to act, and thank God Trump’s got that in spades.

Now, we finish the job—secure the border, dismantle the cartels, and rebuild an America where the rule of law stands firm. That’s not just what our communities deserve. It’s the bedrock of a nation worth fighting for.

Congressman Pat Harrigan from North Carolina serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. A combat-decorated Green Beret, nuclear engineer, and successful entrepreneur, he brings battlefield-tested leadership and real-world experience to Congress.

Reprinted from The Daily Signal.