Ending the border crisis for good: How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act secures America

By Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks

Securing our southern border is not an abstract policy debate. It is a matter of life and death for every community in America. Ask the parents who lost a child to a fentanyl poisoning from drugs smuggled into the US. Ask survivors of human trafficking who were forced across the desert by cartels that treat people like cargo.

For four years, the Biden Administration opened the gates. Illegal crossings hit record highs and fentanyl poured in at levels we had never seen.

President Trump changed that on day one. Crossings are already down 94 percent from Biden’s peak. Now, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will lock in that progress and make sure the Biden border crisis can never be repeated.

First, the bill finishes the border fence with a full wall system from the Pacific to the Gulf. Gaps that cartels exploited will soon be solid steel and concrete. And the much needed technology that CBP requires enhances the fence. Physical barriers work. They funnel traffic into secure checkpoints where agents can intercept drugs and rescue trafficking victims before they vanish into the interior.

Second, the bill hires and equips thousands of new Border Patrol agents. These men and women will receive the latest surveillance tools, from mobile radars to unmanned aerial systems that track smugglers day and night. More eyes on the line mean faster interdictions and fewer families mourning a loved one lost to fentanyl overdose or fentanyl poisoning.

Third, the bill funds next generation screening at ports of entry. Nonintrusive scanners will check every cargo container, every passenger vehicle, every parcel. Smugglers hide fentanyl in spare tires and infant formula cans. Advanced tech will find it.

Fourth, the bill directs resources to locate and deport violent criminals who have slipped through under Biden. Dedicated task forces will work with local law enforcement and ICE to remove gang members and repeat offenders before they strike again.

Finally, the bill ends catch and release. It expands detention capacity so illegal migrants await their hearings in custody, not in your neighborhood. No more court summons that disappear into the wind.

Border security is national security. It protects the families of Iowa as surely as it protects the families of Texas and Arizona. President Trump understands that.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act turns a crisis zone into a security shield. No more fentanyl pipelines. No more open season for traffickers. America’s border will be secure, and America’s people will be safe.