Thread by @RepChipRoy

.@POTUS is correct to demand that the atrocities at the border end immediately. Excuses from either party must end. No more race-based pandering from the left and no more shilling to the financial interests on the right. No more nonsense about fences “not working” or excuses.

Failing to provide necessary resources to establish operational control of our border is a dereliction of our constitutional duty. That means we build fences and navigable roads. It means more border patrol agents, more judges, and more technology. It is just plain common sense.

We can have a robust conversation and debate on the specifics of what exactly is happening north and south of our border. Due to the lack of legitimate resources to secure our border, consider the following as a roughly accurate representation of the reality of the crisis ...

Americans are dying. Immigrants are dying. Only last week, Mexican authorities found 20 bodies near the border. 17 of them were burned. reut.rs/2CfUEd2

Children are being sexually assaulted. Just this weekend, an illegal immigrant was arrested in Texas for sexually assaulting a child. He was deported multiple times to Mexico. As @RepKevinBrady said, “he returned to sexually assault an 11-year-old child.” bit.ly/2VSNdSg

As you read this tweet, a young child will be abducted or exploited by cartels who have found that sex trafficking can be as lucrative as trafficking drugs. @amnesty estimates 20,000 migrants each year are abducted in Mexico on their trek to the U.S.

Roughly 1/3 of women making their way across the southern border illegally are victims of sexual assault, according to @MSF_USA. Some estimates are even higher. Don’t believe it? Ask local ranchers along the border about it ...

They coined the term “rape trees” because the border is littered with victim’s clothing. Is that something you think jives with our American values? Is this not reason enough to act?

If sexual assault and violence against migrants are not enough to make us act, think about the massive, unyielding flow of drugs coming across our southern border? As you read this tweet, dangerous fentanyl is making its way into our country. It will ultimately kill Americans.

In 2017 alone, 882,039 pounds of drugs were seized by the @CBP, and nearly 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. These dangerous opioids and other narcotics have NO business being shipped by illegal criminal organizations onto our streets and into our homes.

If sexual assault, violence against migrants, and the opioid crisis isn’t enough to make us act, consider the criminal impact on American citizens and those legally residing in the United States.

Since 2011 in Texas alone, 186,000 illegal aliens have been charged with 462,000 criminal offenses, according the latest update. You could fill up the AlamoDome nearly three times over with those numbers.

Our men and women at the border are doing their best. @ICEgov has apprehended and removed some 6,000 gang members, including members of MS-13, at the southern border. They deserve and need our help.

The bottom line is fences have worked since the dawn of time. We currently have 46 miles of reinforced fencing along the San Diego sector of the border. Before construction began in 1986, there were 629,656 arrests. Compare that to 31,891 arrests in 2016. Not a math whiz, but …

Let’s talk more about walls. Walls work. These facts don’t lie:
-Israel—illegal immigration down 99%
-El Paso, Tx—down 95%
-Tucson—down 90%
-Yuma—down 95%
(h/t @Jim_Jordan)

This is not a partisan issue. It is a humanitarian crisis for all. Americans should demand our leaders address it today, regardless of party.

How do we fix our broken immigration system? I am glad you asked. Read my op-ed here in @Federalist that came out last week. Let’s #SecureTheBorderNow, end this shutdown, and pay our workers. thefederalist.com/2019/01/09/law…