In North Dakota, Rep. Mike Kelly joins House Judiciary Committee hearing on Northern border & Biden Border Crisis

GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA -- On Wednesday, May 29, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Co-Chair of the Northern Border Security Caucus, joined members of the House Judiciary Committee to highlight the ongoing surge of illegal immigration at the U.S. Northern border during a field hearing entitled "The Biden Border Crisis: North Dakota Perspectives."

Since he co-founded the Northern Border Security Caucus in February 2023 with Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Rep. Kelly has led efforts calling for enhanced border security to curb illegal drug and human smuggling across the 5,525-mile U.S.-Canadian border, the longest continuous international border in the world.

The hearing comes amid a 485% increase in Northern land border encounters between the U.S. and Canada since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021; and, as nearly 90% of terror watchlist suspects entering the U.S. have been caught entering through land border ports of entry at the Northern border, according to U.S. Customs & Border Protection FY2023 data.

"For too long, the Biden Administration has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the massive problem at both our Southern and Northern borders. Under the watch of President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas, the Northern border continues to face record illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Now, their dereliction of duty has turned every state into a border state," Rep. Kelly said. "Nearly 90% of all terror watchlist suspects apprehended at land border ports of entry enter through the Northern border, not the Southern border. The numbers are clear: the Biden Border Crisis has made the Northern border and the United States less secure."

You can WATCH Rep. Kelly's full speech during today's House Judiciary Committee field hearing HERE.

Northern border fast facts:

• Northern border crossings (by fiscal year)
  - FY2024 (to date): 108,155
  - FY2023: 189,402
  - FY2022: 109,535
  - FY2021: 27,180
• Excluding marijuana, drug smuggling has increased by 1153% along the Northern border between Fiscal Year 2021 and Fiscal Year 2023.
  - Ecstasy increased 329%
  - Cocaine increased 2,787%
• The Northern Border is longest international border in the world, measuring 5,525 miles, the U.S. Northern border has only 115 ports of entry (compared to 330 at the Southwest Border) with no performance measures to assess security between ports.
• Since President Biden took office three years ago, there has been a 485% increase in Northern land border encounters.
  - In January 2021, there were only 997 Northern land border encounters. Since then, this number has skyrocketed each month. In January 2024, there were 15,800 encounters. This is a 1,484% increase in one of the coldest months of the year.
  - In FY2020, there were 32,376 border encounters. In FY2023, there were 189,402. Through the first seven months of FY2024, there have been 108,155 encounters

Rep. Kelly's leadership on the Northern border:

• February 2023: Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Ryan Zinke (R-MT) co-founded the Northern Border Security Caucus with nearly 30 House GOP Members.
• October 2023: Reps. Kelly and Zinke led a resolution to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling on him to address the alarming number of suspects on the terror watchlist who are crossing into the United States along the Northern border with Canada.
• In November 2023, Rep. Kelly previously testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the threats and vulnerabilities of an unsecured U.S. Northern border.
• In March 2024, Reps. Kelly, Zinke, House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) led 20+ House Republicans in this letter to Mayorkas expressing "serious concern about the unprecedented surge in apprehensions along our Northern border."