Rep. Tom Suozzi (NY-3) joined forces with fellow Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28) to co-chair the newly formed Democrats for Border Security Task Force, which aims to address immigration and the border crisis while combatting the flow of drugs into the country.
“America’s southern border and immigration system aren’t working, and it is time to fix it,” Suozzi said.
The congressman, officially sworn into the House on Feb. 28 after winning in a special election to finish the term left by expelled Rep. George Santos, continuously advocated for bipartisan solutions and compromise to achieve results throughout his campaign.
These campaign sentiments continued Wednesday when he announced his co-charing of the task force.
He said the task force will “advocate for commonsense, bipartisan compromise to achieve much-needed and long-overdue comprehensive immigration reform.”
“Our approach to the immigration and border crisis is unequivocal; we will work with anybody from any wing of any party if they genuinely care about solving this problem,” Suozzi said. “Too many in politics today are focused on pointing out the problem and keep busy figuring out what tricks they have ‘up their sleeves’ to weaponize the border crisis, this task force will ‘roll up our sleeves’ to try to fix it.”
Border security came to the forefront of the special election between Suozzi and his Republican challenger Nassau County District 10 Legislator Mazi Pilip.
While both advocated for stronger measures at the border to bolster security, Suozzi advocated for the passage of the bipartisan Senate bill that provided many reforms long advocated by congressional Republicans as well as $20 billion in funding.
Pilip opposed the bill, which also encompassed aid to Ukraine and Israel, and Republicans eventually killed it in the Senate after former President Donald Trump announced his opposition to the legislation.
“The crisis at our border demands solutions today, and it is unfortunate that a bipartisan Senate bill aimed at addressing the situation was killed before we even had a chance to debate its contents,” Cuellar said.
The purpose of the Democrats for Border Security Task Force is to provide Democrat House members a platform for discussing border security and fostering collaboration with colleagues. Beyond congressional members, the task force will also invite administration officials, non-governmental organizations and local officials from communities along the southern border.
Suozzi’s office said this task force will work to inform House members of the realities occurring at the border and aid in their discussions to craft border security measures.
“Cities across the country are now feeling the consequences of the humanitarian crisis at the border – something border communities have been dealing with for years,” Cuellar said. “This crisis is unsustainable, and Democrats need a forum to approach border security policy as the GOP continues to play partisan politics with the issue.”
