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By Rita LeBleu

If U.S. Congressman Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre, was granted a single wave of the wand to make a change in America, he’d use it to secure the border, he said.

The Homeland Security Committee member and Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee Chair voted against banning Tik Tok.

He explained why at the West Calcasieu Chamber of Commerce luncheon held Thursday at the West Cal Event Center in Sulphur.   

Higgins voted to pass H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act in May 2023. It would give the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretion to suspend the entry of people to gain operational control of the border. The law is considered the most comprehensive border control security legislation in decades.

“We’re losing our country at the Southern Border,” he told local government and business leaders. “It’s about policy, not money.”

He noted that the border hasn’t changed in the last three years. It’s still the same 1,954 miles. Nor have the roads, bridges, rivers, local and state law enforcement, farmers and ranchers.      

“The policy of your current administration flipped the entire function of our federal law enforcement which works closely with local and state law enforcement and border regions,” he said. “Now you have 11 million illegals in your country in three years and 300,000 Americans dead from overdose of drugs trafficked into this country and drug overdose is the leading cause of death for 18-45 year olds.”

(In February, Senate Republicans resisted advancing a bipartisan proposal intended to clamp down on illegal border crossing. Some elected officials have said the reason it wasn’t passed is because former President Trump wants it to be a campaign issue.)

Higgins makes no secret of supporting Trump and having differences with President Biden. The Congressman didn’t offer his opinion of whether the president needs Congress to close down the border. Some House Republicans say he can and that’s why they have dismissed border protection legislation. Democrats and some immigration experts say there’s more to the matter.

Higgins did say that Biden “leads with executive authority, one-third  of our federal government and has total responsibility for the executtion of all federal agency and department interactions within the United States with American citizens and business. This includes enforcement of border security.”

Higgins said his office has delivered letters to the White House, “very respectfully requesting an audience with the President for over two years” asking Biden to just sit down with him and talk.

“You know what we got as a response? Zero.” Founders gave us a solution for these things, they call it elections. We will see what happens in November.”

TikTok

Higgins is the only member of the Louisiana delegation to vote against the TikTok ban.

“Americans have the right to live free. And listen – there’s risk associated with freedom.” he said, adding that  some people smoke cigarettes despite knowing it can cause cancer and no one is banning cigarettes.

“China has all of your data. So does Google, which is internationally owned, so does Facebook and Meta and Instagram. Anywhere you travel outside the United states, log into wi-fi, they’ve got your data.”

His point is that it is naive to hold TikTok as unique in this era. Something else will replace it in four years, and he called Washington DC arrogant to say it’s protecting American people from themselves and Chinese communism with the ban.

“The border is dissolved, six embassies have been shut down in three years, the world is at war, we can’t afford groceries because of inflation, you can’t buy a house, you can’t sell a house because the interest rate is eight percent, criminals are devouring cities, but we’re gonna fix Tik Tok. So that’s why I voted no.”