‘Unacceptable’: Democrat Sen. Jon Tester Urges Biden to Fix Border Situation

Sen. Jon Tester holds a hearing to review the fiscal year 2024 budget request for the National Guard and Reserve, in Washington, on June 1, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has called on President Joe Biden to use “all of the remaining tools at his disposal” to help bolster security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a Feb. 29 letter to President Biden, the Democrat lawmaker said the current situation at the southern border is “unacceptable, plain and simple.”

“Congress and your administration need to take action immediately to improve the situation before things deteriorate,” Mr. Tester wrote. “I respectfully urge you to use all of the remaining tools at your disposal to strengthen border security where executive action is possible.”

The senator went on to note that law enforcement officials, community leaders, and families in Montana regularly highlight the devastation wrought in the state by drug trafficking and illegal border crossings.

He further cited recent news reports stating that Mexican drug cartels are operating in Montana, including on Native American reservations, leading to a surge in overdose deaths.

According to the state’s attorney general, Austin Knudsen, there has been an almost 11,000 percent increase in fentanyl seizures in Montana since 2019 amid a surge in the illicit drug coming across the southern border.

“This cannot be tolerated and Montanans expect everyone to do what they can to crack down on this growing problem,” Mr. Tester wrote.

‘Action Needed’

The lawmaker also expressed his disappointment over opposition to the Senate’s $118 bipartisan border security deal, which would have addressed some national security expenses and allocated $60 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel, and around $9.2 billion for humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

The measure also allocated $20 billion to implement border security measures and would provide “critical resources at the border and significant policy changes,” according to the White House.

However, the funding measure ultimately fell apart amid opposition from GOP lawmakers over its lack of U.S. border security provisions and the additional funding for Ukraine.

“While only Congress has the power to provide the critical funding needed to secure our border through manpower and technology and only Congress has the power to tighten our asylum laws, action is needed,” Mr. Tester wrote.

“I have said this many times over the past three years, your administration can and must do more to secure the southern border. The current situation at the southern border is unacceptable and the ongoing instability is a threat to our national security,” he continued.

“I urge you to use your executive authority to the maximum extent to keep our country safe until Congress can deliver the effective long-lasting solutions that Montanans and our men and women in law enforcement have been asking for,” the Democrat concluded.

Trump, Biden Visit Border

Mr. Tester sent his letter as President Biden visited the border where he met with Border Patrol agents and law enforcement. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump was in Eagle Pass, Texas, where he was joined by Governor Greg Abbott.

In remarks at the border, President Biden took aim at Republican lawmakers for obstructing the Senate’s bipartisan border security deal and criticized President Trump, whom he accused of “playing politics” with the border security issue.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump talks with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a visit to the U.S.–Mexico border on Feb. 29, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Eric Gay/AP Photo

“Instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me, or I'll join you and tell the Congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill. We can do it together,” he said in a speech delivered to reporters in Brownsville, located on the western Gulf Coast.

President Biden also called the Senate deal “the toughest, most efficient, most effective border security bill this country has ever seen.”

The visit marked his second trip to the border since January 2023 when he went to El Paso, Texas.

Emel Akan contributed to this report.