Speaker Johnson highlights 100 stories of 'dangers and destruction' of 'Biden Border Catastrophe'

FIRST ON FOX: House Speaker Mike Johnson is highlighting 100 news stories that he says show the "dangers and destruction" of the "Biden Border Catastrophe," including crime, violence, fentanyl smuggling and national security threats, which he blames on the actions and policies of the Biden administration – as Republicans and the administration feud over who is responsible for the crisis.

"The mass release of illegal immigrants into our country is wreaking havoc on families, communities, and law enforcement. These 100 stories show how the Biden administration’s open door to illegal immigration is flooding America with fentanyl, human trafficking, and increased violence, bankrupting municipalities, and killing our citizens," Johnson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The stories include dozens of instances of migrant-committed crime, including recent instances of Venezuelan and other migrants committing crime in New York City, where tens of thousands have traveled since being released into the U.S.

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It also highlights reports of migrants draining resources at the state and city level, including in Denver, New York City and Chicago, as well as reports of the enormous impact the crisis has had on housing, hospitals, schools and state budgets.

Other stories include the impact of the fentanyl crisis, which has afflicted the U.S. for years but has surged in recent years. The illicit drug, which is primarily smuggled across the U.S. border after its production in Mexico, can be fatal in small doses.

Other stories include how the border crisis has fueled smuggling across the border, making it a multibillion-dollar industry for cartels, and the impact it has had on Border Patrol agents on the frontlines. Separately, the 100 stories include national security threats and those on the terror watch list who have been encountered coming across the border.

Hundreds of migrants, predominantly from Venezuela, cross the Rio Grande with the intention of seeking humanitarian asylum by crossing the border between Mexico and the United States in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Dec. 5, 2023. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Republicans have sought to pin the blame on the crisis on the policies of the administration, including increased "catch-and-release," reduced interior enforcement and deportations, the halting of border wall construction and the reversal of a number of Trump-era policies, including the Remain-in-Mexico policy.

Last week, the House voted to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on articles accusing him of having "refused to comply with federal immigration laws" and of having violated "public trust." The matter now goes to the Senate for a trial.

"President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas have inflicted a colossal failure of leadership and refused to defend our homeland. They have the power to stop the catastrophe and secure the border right now, but they simply will not do so," Johnson said in the statement to Fox News Digital.

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The Biden administration has pushed back, arguing that it needs funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress and calling for the Senate and House to pass a bipartisan deal that would have provided $20 billion in funding for the border while limiting asylum as part of a broad sweep of immigration measures. The White House said that the increased staffing and other measures would help secure the border and protect against fentanyl smuggling, arguing a vote against it was a vote "for fentanyl." 

Conservatives have said that it did not go far enough and would have normalized high levels of illegal immigration. They called for the House GOP’s border bill to be passed as part of a supplemental spending agreement instead.

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The administration has denied claims it has opened the door to illegal immigration and has pointed to statistics that show total removals and returns of illegal immigrants since May have exceeded every full fiscal year since 2015, and that DHS has seized more fentanyl and arrested more smugglers for fentanyl-related crimes than in the last five years combined. It has also said that its apprehension rate of illegal immigrants has remained broadly the same as the Trump administration’s.

Biden himself took aim at Republicans for impeaching Mayorkas, which he called "baseless," and called on Republicans to "decide whether to join us to solve the problem or keep playing politics with the border."

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In response to Johnson's release on Wednesday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said that "[w]hereas President Biden worked with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to hammer out the toughest border security legislation in decades, Speaker Johnson and House Republicans took ownership of every problem he names today when they killed that deal – choosing his internal party politics and fentanyl-trafficking drug cartels over the Border Patrol." 

Bates also pointed to Democrats' victory in last week's special election in New York, calling it a "devastating verdict on Speaker Johnson’s opposition to border security" and cited a Punchbowl News article about reported concerns about Johnson among some Republicans at a GOP retreat in Miami.

"Speaker Johnson needs to have a wake-up call – which is available at his 5-star hotel – about how there is no vacation to be had from his responsibility for actively undermining the safety of our nation," Bates said.