Dems Accuse GOP of Holding House Oversight Hearing on Border Crisis to ‘Amplify White Nationalist Conspiracy Theories’

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House Oversight Committee Republicans admonished their Democrat counterparts during a hearing on the border crisis Tuesday after Oversight Dems put out a tweet accusing the GOP of amplifying “white nationalist conspiracy theories.”

Ahead of the hearing, Oversight Committee Democrats tweeted “good morning and good luck” to everyone except Republican members “who are using today’s hearing to amplify white nationalist conspiracy theories instead of a comprehensive solution to protect our borders and strengthen our immigration system.”

 

At the start of the hearing, Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) called out the “disturbing” tweet, and warned Democrats that it is in violation of House rules.

“While vigorous disagreement is part of the legislative process. Members are reminded that we must adhere to established standards of decorum and debate,” he said.

“It’s a violation of House rules and the rules of this committee to engage in personalities regarding other members or to question the motives of a colleague. So remarks of the type that we just saw in the tweet are not permitted by the rules and are not in keeping with the best traditions of our committee,” he added.

Comer also called out the Oversight Democrats for wasting the first two years of Biden’s presidency by holding hearings on trivial topics.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., was more pointed in his objection to the offensive tweet.

“I’m gonna just cut to the chase for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who want to state that we’re using this hearing for white nationalism,” Donalds said. “Uh, I’m not doing that!”

He continued: “So if you feel that strongly, come walk to this side of the room and let’s talk about it face to face, but leave that kind of silly stuff for somebody else. Don’t bring that here today. This stuff is serious.”

The hearing, titled, “On The Front Lines of the Border Crisis,” featured two Border Patrol agents: Gloria Chavez, Chief Patrol Agent, Rio Grande Valley Sector and John Modlin,
Chief Patrol Agent, Tucson Sector. The Department of Homeland Security initially tried to block the GOP’s request for the agents’ appearance before the committee to testify about the surge of illegal border crossings, which exploded out of control after Joe Biden took office.

There were more than 2.3 million illegal immigrant encounters in FY 2022 and more than 251,000 in December alone. Democrats and the White House have sought to blame Republicans for the border situation because they blocked the regime’s immigration reform plan that they said would have overhauled a “broken” system. Republicans refused to support the plan because it included  mass amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens who were allowed into the country.

Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin explained how dire the situation at the border has become during Biden’s term.

In “fiscal years ’18, ’19, and ’20, Tucson Sector had about 60,000 apprehensions,” Modlin said, adding that in 2021 there were 190,000 apprehensions. “So we tripled the previous three years combined,” he noted.

“Last year, it quadrupled. Last year it was 250,000. We’re 20,000 ahead [of last year] right now, so we went from what I would describe as unprecedented to the point where I don’t have the correct adjective to describe what’s going on,” Modlin said.

Rep. Donalds asked Modlin if he believes Biden’s lax border policies are behind the chaos at the southern border.

“There was somebody who became president of the United States in 2021,” Dondalds said, pointing out that Biden immediately got rid of the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) in which individuals seeking admission to the U.S. from Mexico—illegally or without proper documentation— were returned to Mexico to wait outside of the U.S. for the duration of their immigration proceedings.

Donalds also noted that Biden “stopped border wall funding,”  “gutted the interior enforcement against illegal aliens,” and put “a 100 day moratorium to study border security protocols.”

“In your opinion, do you believe [Biden’s] policy changes led to the drastic increases in border encounters?” he asked.

Modlin said that when agents interview illegal border crossers in the Tucson sector post-arrest,  they say they “believed that when the administration changed, that the law changed and policy changed and that there was an open border.”

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) pointed out under Biden’s watch,  illegal immigration records are broken month after month. Border Patrol agent Chavez described the situation at the border as “overwhelming.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed on Monday that Biden’s border agenda is “working.”

“We’ve got an actual plan to address these very challenging issues, and as you see, as I just laid out, our plan is indeed working,” she said.

 

About Debra Heine

Debra Heine is a conservative Catholic mom of six and longtime political pundit. She has written for several conservative news websites over the years, including Breitbart and PJ Media.

Photo: UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 7: Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., prepare for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled On The Front Lines of the Border Crisis: A Hearing with Chief Patrol Agents, in Rayburn Building on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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