Smith: Officer David Lee's tragic death underscores border policy failures

On Sept. 22, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Officer David Lee tragically passed away after he was struck by the car of an illegal immigrant who was intoxicated, driving without a license, and going way over the speed limit. Officer Lee was a father, husband and a hero who dedicated his life to protecting the community. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones.

What makes this tragedy more painful is that it never should have happened. The illegal immigrant who struck Officer Lee had a criminal record; he was on probation for a 2020 DWI case and felony domestic assault conviction for breaking down the door of the home he shared with a woman, then strangling, punching, and kicking her. He should have been deported for committing these crimes; instead, he was given a slap on the wrist and released on bond.

Far too many innocent people have been murdered or violently attacked by dangerous people who are living in this country illegally. Back in March, an illegal immigrant stabbed two people at a laundromat in the St. Louis area. In February, 22-year-old Laken Riley was brutally murdered by a Venezuelan national who had been paroled into the country in the fall of 2022. And in June, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was murdered by two Venezuelans who were caught illegally entering the country then released. These are just a few examples of the dangerous consequences of the Biden-Harris administration’s open border agenda that they began putting in place the day they took office.

On day one of the Biden-Harris administration, they ended construction on former President Donald Trump’s border wall. They continued taking a sledgehammer to Trump’s effective border agenda by reinstating catch-and-release and getting rid of Remain in Mexico and Title 42. Thanks to their radical immigration agenda, there have been more than two million known gotaways since they took office — that’s almost double the total number from the previous 10 years combined. For 40 consecutive months, illegal immigrant crossings were higher under this administration than the highest month under Trump. And under their watch, nearly 400 suspected terrorists have been caught illegally crossing our borders; making matters worse, at least 99 of them were released into our country.

On Sept. 27, Border czar Kamala Harris made her second trip to the border. It was nothing more than a photo-op — just like her first visit where, according to the New York Post, “federal agents on the front lines were instructed to completely sanitize the area to hide the true severity of the crisis from cameras.” Photo-ops and empty rhetoric won’t solve the border crisis. What we need is for the Biden-Harris administration to bring back Trump’s effective border agenda — policies they got rid of because they were Trump’s.

The chaos on the border has created major public safety and national security issues. Far too many innocent people have been murdered or violently attacked at the hands of illegal immigrants. Instead of pandering to radical Leftists who want America to be the only nation in the world without borders, the Biden-Harris administration must use the tools it has to make our border secure and our communities safe again. I will continue pushing this administration to do what’s right and bring back Trump’s tough immigration agenda.