The crisis at the Southern border has Illinois experiencing increased rates of human trafficking, drug abuse, fentanyl deaths, and crime all over our state. It is heartbreaking that so many young people are dying from fentanyl overdoses, and innocent children are being trafficked across the southern border. Just because Illinois is not a border state does not mean we have not felt the impact of the poor border policies enacted by the Biden Administration. Protecting Illinois requires that we secure the southern border and stop human and drug trafficking, saving thousands of lives. Comprehensive border security solutions, ending catch and release, and the construction of physical barriers are necessary to secure America’s southern border.

We are a nation of immigrants, and the US must have a working system for legal immigration. There are many positive benefits from legal immigration, but the American people will not support any type of comprehensive immigration changes until the southern border is secure.