Over 10 million illegal border crossings during President Joe Biden’s four years in office have left everyday Americans reeling from the fallout—strained cities, rising crime, and a deadly drug epidemic. Now, Congress is digging into how this crisis unfolded and what it’s cost the average citizen, launching a series of hearings to unpack the damage and chart a path forward.

A Flood at the Border Hits Home

Customs and Border Protection tallies show more than 10 million people slipped into the U.S. illegally under Biden’s watch, a surge that’s hit American communities hard. Starting Tuesday, the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee kicks off “Consequences of Failure: How Biden’s Policies Fueled the Border Crisis,” a deep dive into the policies that opened the floodgates.

Led by Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.), the hearings will probe Biden’s rollback of Trump-era border controls, like the Remain in Mexico program, and the revival of “catch and release,” alongside new parole schemes that let millions in through apps and special programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.

“After just two months in office, the Trump administration has restored law and order at our borders. But this victory, and the historic crisis that preceded it, did not happen overnight,” Guest told The Daily Signal.

“There is no question that Joe Biden and his reckless administration created the worst border crisis in American history.” For regular folks, the impact has been brutal—over 662,000 of those who crossed had criminal records or pending charges, per ICE data, leaving families like that of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student k*lled in 2024 by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, to bear the ultimate price.

Communities Crushed by Costs and Crime

The chaos didn’t stop at the border—it rolled into towns and cities, draining wallets and shattering lives.

“From unlawful mass-parole schemes at ports of entry and catch-and-release between ports of entry to disempowering [Department of Homeland Security] law enforcement—every community in America faced the consequences of the Biden administration’s failures,” Guest said.

New York City alone saw over 210,000 illegal immigrants arrive between spring 2022 and late 2024, forcing the city to shell out $3.75 billion in 2024 for shelters and services—$1.31 billion of that from state taxpayers. For the average New Yorker, that’s money not going to schools, roads, or safety.

Crime and drugs piled on the pain. CBP seized over 68,000 pounds of fentanyl during Biden’s term—triple the 20,000 pounds nabbed under Trump’s first stint—fueling a crisis that’s now the top k*ller of Americans aged 18 to 45, according to the DEA.

“These failures took the lives of innocent Americans and led to the unimaginable abuse of vulnerable men, women, and children along their journey to our doorstep,” Guest said, slamming Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for shrugging it off as inevitable rather than a deliberate disaster.

Fixing the Damage, Step by Step

With Trump back in the saddle, the focus is on undoing the mess and shielding Americans from a repeat. The hearings—starting with Tuesday’s session in the 119th Congress—will feature voices like Lora Ries from The Heritage Foundation, Ammon Blair from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and Jon Anfinsen from the National Border Patrol Council. They’ll dissect what went wrong and what’s needed beyond Trump’s early moves to lock down the border.

Guest didn’t hold back: “Instead of correcting course, Joe Biden and [DHS Secretary] Alejandro Mayorkas argued for four years that this was an unavoidable influx of global migration and that their hands were tied by a lack of congressional action and resources. However, it is abundantly clear the Biden border crisis was by design, not by accident.”

“As the Trump administration works tirelessly to clean up the mess of the last four years, we must remain clear-eyed about how we got here,” Guest added, “so Congress can ensure it never happens again.” For the average American—hit with higher taxes, lost loved ones, and a fentanyl flood—the stakes couldn’t be higher.

How would you grade former President Biden’s handling of illegal immigration? Let us know down in the comments!