Senator Carper Highlights Need to Provide Border Patrol Agents with Necessary Resources to Manage Migrants Arriving at the Southwest Border

At the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s (HSGAC) Government Operations and Border Management Subcommittee hearing “After Apprehension: Tracing DHS’s Responsibilities after Title 42,” U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del), a senior member of the committee, emphasized the importance of Border Patrol Processing Coordinators that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has hired to process migrants arriving along our Southwest border. Senator Carper focused his questions on how DHS is managing its resources at various ports of entry to keep Americans and migrants safe. 

During the hearing, Senator Carper emphasized the importance of focusing on root causes to understand why migrants flee their home countries for the U.S.:

“Throughout the time I’ve been in the Senate, I have really focused on root causes in this committee […], not just the symptoms of challenges or problems, but what are the root causes? What are we doing about it? […] We’ve seen time and time again that there is a correlation between the rule of law, corruption, and economic opportunity in Central and South American countries and in the migration flows at the U.S. border.”

Then, the Senator emphasized the United States’ role in helping foster stability in the region:

“Several of us on this committee have been [to] Central America and Latin America quite a number of times, for quite a few years […] One of the things that making life tough for [migrants] is the weather – droughts. A lot of folks who used to be able […] to grow coffee and other commodities, certainly they’re not able to do that anymore and make a living. […] For a number of years, maybe two or three years, we didn’t have a Senate confirmed ambassador in Honduras. Right now, we don’t have a Senate confirmed ambassador in Colombia, and we need Senate confirmed ambassadors in all of those countries to […] make sure that that the folks that are leading those countries are behaving and that we’re being a good partner to them.”

A video of Senator Carper’s questions at the hearing can be found here.  

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