At Cochise County hearing, House Republicans take aim at Biden's border policy
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U.S. House Republicans were back in southern Arizona this week for a remote congressional hearing about what they call a crisis at the border created by the Biden administration.
Several dozen community members gathered Tuesday afternoon for the hearing at Cochise College in Sierra Vista, roughly 30 miles from the border.
Republican lawmakers from the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hammered on Biden administration policies.
Congressman Andy Biggs took aim at CBP One — the government app that has migrants apply for appointments with border officers to begin the asylum process.
"The CBP One app hurts Americans by welcoming any migrants with a smartphone into the U.S., and assists the cartels in soliciting more customers to make the dangerous trip to our border," he said.
In reality, it can take months for an asylum seeker to get one of a fixed number of CBP One appointments available at the border each day. And getting one doesn’t guarantee entry to the U.S.
The app has also faced criticism from human rights advocates, who argue the process is glitchy and doesn’t work for people in immediate danger.
Go-to destination for Republican lawmakers
Biggs was one of two Arizona congressmen part of the panel Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, whose district includes parts of Cochise County, discussed a bill he co-sponsors focused on the use of social media as a recruitment tool for smugglers.
"This addresses that issue, specifically, to make sure that these social media companies are communicating with law enforcement to be able to tackle this," he said.
Cochise County has been a go-to destination for Republican lawmakers over the last several years.
But some locals in the rural county say GOP concerns, like those aired at the congressional field hearing on Tuesday, are overblown.
'I don't see the invasion'
Sierra Vista resident John Sturgis said he thought the hearing was politically charged.
"I can tell you that when we hear things like there’s an invasion at the border, I’ve lived around here for half my life now, and I don’t see the invasion," he said.
Republican lawmakers and witnesses they questioned also aimed their criticism at the high number of apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border.
They argued current asylum policies were to blame. But the Biden administration's latest rule, which shrinks asylum eligibility for migrants who didn't seek protection in another country first, is also the subject of litigation from human rights groups, who argue it mirrors a Trump-era policy already shot down in federal court.
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