Media

Today, Congressman Jim Baird (IN-04) introduced the Border Construction Materials Transfer Act, legislation which would require the federal government, through the Department of Homeland Security, to immediately transfer ownership of all construction materials already purchased for improving border security and staged along our Southern border to the state governments located on the border. 

“For nearly a year and a half, we have watched the Biden administration not only fail to establish any plan to address the raging crisis at our Southern border but make absolutely no constructive use of the materials already purchased by the Trump administration to construct a barrier along the border,” said Congressman Baird.  “As we continue to experience record numbers of border crossings each month and lethal drugs continue to flood our communities at alarming rates, the need for a barrier along our Southern border couldn’t be more dire. The American taxpayers cannot afford to continue footing the multi-billion-dollar bill for unused barrier materials while our Southern border remains more vulnerable than ever before. My bill immediately transfers ownership of these materials from the woefully inept Biden administration to the border state governments, thereby empowering them to do what has otherwise failed to be done: secure our Southern border.”

Background:

Since President Biden issued an order to stop construction of the Southern border barrier, the federal government has paid contractors over $3 million a day to monitor unused border materials. In Texas alone, there is over $100 million worth of border wall materials that has already been purchased with taxpayer dollars going to waste. 

Over 2.6 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at our Southern border since President Biden took office, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Secretary Mayorkas have confirmed that over 700,000 known “gotaways” have evaded apprehension by CBP at the Southern border during the same timeframe. To date, CBP has seized 340,000 pounds of drugs in Fiscal Year 2022, including 5,300 pounds of fentanyl which is enough to kill 2.4 billion people.

The Border Construction Materials Transfer Act (H.R.8028) does the following:

• Directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to transfer materials to construct roadways and physical barriers along the Southern border of the United States to the governments of the states in which such materials are located

• Ownership of these covered materials located in the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas is transferred to the governments of these states respectively

• DHS is responsible for the physical relocation of all covered materials transferred to state-operated facilities