In 2023, it seems the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is less and less concerned with hiding its espionage and attempts to destabilize the United States. With the early February sighting of a confirmed Chinese surveillance balloon, which drifted across the U.S. for a week until it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina, perhaps more Americans are aware of the threat China poses to United States security. But while the eyes of many have been trained on the skies, the communist nation has been at work right under our feet.

In Illinois and across the United States, China has for years been buying up farmland. Official figures from the start of 2020 show China controlling about 192,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S., which may not seem like much, but that number continues to grow at an alarming rate.

On a larger scale, according to a report from the U.S. Congressional Research Service, “foreign persons and entities held an interest in 40.8 million acres of U.S. agricultural land in 2021, accounting for 3.1% of total privately owned land.” Investigate Midwest, an independent, nonprofit newsroom found that “the USDA largely relies on volunteer reporting,” and that a database of foreign land ownership revealed “3.1 million acres without an owner listed.” It seems the USDA’s system is no system at all, and the consequences could be far-reaching.

One conservative U.S. Representative from Illinois, Mary Miller (IL-15) is taking a stand, having introduced in February H.R. 840, the “Saving American Farms from Adversaries Act.” Rep. Miller and her husband are farmers from Oakland, Illinois, and she serves on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, making her a knowledgeable voice on this crucial piece of legislation.

According to the text of the bill, in Illinois alone, “Foreign companies and individuals have purchased 853,813 acres of agricultural land…worth approximately $6.3 billion.” So, what is the danger? In an article from Breitbart, Rep. Miller is quoted as saying, “As a farmer, I know that foreign land purchases are especially an issue in rural America where the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to buy land in our country to gain strategic leverage over the United States and our food supply.” Concerning current federal policies that actually encourage the foreign purchase of American lands, U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA) said, “The current trend in the U.S. is leading us toward the creation of a Chinese-owned agricultural land monopoly.”

From an economic perspective, when outsiders with massive budgets purchase land and farms, they bid up prices, artificially driving costs up for American farmers. Chinese purchases of homes and apartments are having the same effect on rural families, increasing the cost of renting, and putting home or farm ownership out of reach (this is also addressed in H.R. 840). And as far as national security goes, some of the CCP’s rural land purchases have been in proximity to U.S. military bases. What could go wrong?

It’s bad enough that American farmers suffer under onerous regulation at the hands of the USDA and other government agencies. If this bill fails, it is certain the Biden administration’s weak foreign policy will not only endanger the nation’s future on the world stage but also pave the way for even greater pressure on the men and women in so-called “flyover country”—truly, the backbone of our nation.

According to the (unreliable) figures that are currently available, China is by no means the United States’ largest foreign agricultural landholder. However, since the communist nation is widely held to present the greatest menace to the United States on a variety of fronts, and given the increasingly blatant threats we’ve seen recently, it’s entirely appropriate to investigate and put a stop to the CCP’s purchasing of American land.

We’ll let Rep. Miller have the last word:

“Our adversaries continue to rob our country of wealth and prosperity under Joe Biden’s weak leadership. Congress must respond to the critical economic and national security threats China poses to our nation because Joe Biden refuses to put America’s safety and best interests first. America is on a dangerous path of losing our self-sufficiency in farming, and we must take the threat of China’s provocation seriously by passing the Saving American Farms from Adversaries Act.”

TAKE ACTION: Call your U.S. Congressmember and ask him/her to please co-sponsor H.R. 840. It is important they our federal lawmakers hear from us about this national security proposal. The rest of Illinois’ Congressional delegation should have no problem signing on to this legislation.

The crisis along the U.S.-Mexican  border continues with little effort from the Biden administration to stop the flood. In September, Del Rio, Texas, was nearly overrun when 30,000 illegal immigrants poured over the border into the town. This action meant illegal immigrants almost outnumbered actual citizens and, as a result, Del Rio’s public areas and living conditions deteriorated noticeably.

In 2021, approximately 1.7 million illegal immigrants have been arrested along our border. However, our federal government has done little to pro-actively intervene or address the primary issues that cause immigrants to leave their country. President Joe Biden met with Mexico’s President André Manuel López Obrador on November 18th. The two only briefly discussed the border. Obrador has stated that the U.S. should grant amnesty to the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and did not promise any help in stemming the tide of illegal crossings.

While the problems incurred along the border are overwhelming, the individuals coming here are far too often the victims. According to Pew Research, we have seen the highest levels of illegal crossings this year compared to the last several decades. However, despite the high level of crossings, the number of individuals crossing is down. This decrease is because an estimated 27% of individuals make multiple crossings across the border. One explanation for multiple crossings is that some illegal immigrants are caught, returned to their country of their origin, and then make other attempts to cross. Another explanation is that coyotes, the colloquial term for smugglers, are going back and forth smuggling victims of human trafficking across the border.

Kevin Lilly, Chairman of the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission, has closely followed the tragedy of human trafficking at the border. In an interview with Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson, Lilly claimed that 60% of Latin American children crossing the US-Mexican border are victims of trafficking. Approximately 80,000 children are currently being trafficked in the state of Texas alone. The crisis along the border is further facilitating and funding the $200 billion industry of human trafficking.

President Biden’s response to the border crisis and human trafficking has been a complete debacle. The administration’s policy requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to release families and unaccompanied minors 72 hours after being detained. Agents then serve them a notice to report to court for a hearing. Most immigrants do not comply with the notice to return, and minors and vulnerable adults are often quickly sold to traffickers.

The lack of intervention by the Biden administration means officials in border states are left on their own to manage the immigrant problem. Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) declared disaster areas in 47 Texas counties and deployed the National Guard to assist with border patrol and with the growing humanitarian crisis. Texas will likely see even more problems as a caravan of 2,000 migrants are currently making their way from Central American and Haiti to the US-Mexican border.

Recently, after discovering that the federal government was secretly flying illegal immigrants to Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) stated, “If they’re going to come here, we’ll provide buses. I will send them to Delaware and do that. If he’s [Biden] not going to support the border being secured, then he should be able to have everyone there.” DeSantis has also filed suit against the Biden administration for continuing the catch and release program.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also responded to the problem with the introduction of S. 3002, the Stop the Surge Act of 2021. The Committee on the Judiciary is reviewing the act which was introduced to Congress on October 19th. This bill would establish twelve new ports of entry that Homeland Security would maintain. Any illegal immigrant detained at our border would be sent to one of the twelve ports and processed to determine if they were qualified for entry or deportation. Additionally, the act would eliminate temporary asylum and the catch and release program. As proposed by U.S. Senator Cruz, the bill would help tighten border control and perhaps prevent traffickers from using the open border to victimize vulnerable children and adults.

To stop the inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants and the human trafficking at our borders, we must stop the influx of migrants. This crisis will only end if we tighten border control and make it clear to all individuals that there is an established, legal process for immigrating to our country. The federal government should not automatically grant amnesty if they are serious about stopping the tide of migrants breaching our border. If you believe the border crisis is a humanitarian disaster, do not hesitate to get in touch with your Congressional representatives and demand that the Stop the Surge Act 2021 be moved to the U.S. Senate floor for a vote.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to contact U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth plus your own U.S. Representatives and voice your concerns regarding the border crisis and express your support for S. 3002, the Stop the Surge Act.

Ask them to secure our national borders! You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak to your federal lawmaker by name. If the staff doesn’t pick up, be sure to leave your name, phone number, and your message that you want S. 3002 passed, the border secure, women and children protected and the border wall finished immediately. Please ask your friends to do the same!

More ACTION: If you suspect someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, whether an immigrant or a legal citizen, don’t hesitate to call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at: (888) 373-7888.

Learn MORE:

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