CBP encountered 57,163 foreign nationals from Russia between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023, over 20,000 more than the previous fiscal year. In the same time period, 52,700 Chinese nationals were encountered on America’s borders and at ports of entry, nearly 25,000 more than during fiscal year 2022.

“These alarming figures should not shock anyone,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told The Daily Signal. “The Biden administration’s border policies continue to incentivize foreign nationals from all over the world to enter our country illegally via the southern border.”

Along America’s southern border with Mexico, CBP encountered 24,314 Chinese foreign nationals and 43,210 Russian foreign nationals.

Biggs added: “Having tens of thousands of Russian and [Chinese Communist Party]-linked individuals show up at our border is not normal by any measure. The inaction from the Biden administration is unacceptable and jeopardizes American lives.”

During the final full fiscal year of the Trump administration, 5,946 Russian nationals were encountered on America’s border and 18,395 Chinese nationals were encountered.

On Saturday, CBP released data revealing that agents encountered a record 3.2 million illegal aliens at U.S. ports of entry and between ports of entry on the northern and southern borders. That number does not include “gotaways.”

A recent report from the House Judiciary Committee found that “more than 1.7 million known gotaways” have successfully evaded Border Patrol agents and entered the country during the first 26 months of the Biden administration.  It is unclear how many illegal aliens have successfully evaded Border Patrol detection and entered America.

CBP also reported that 736 illegal aliens on America’s “terrorist watchlist” have been encountered at or between a port of entry in fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30. The terrorist watchlist includes “individuals who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watchlisted individuals,” according to CBP.

“The United States’ adversaries understand that now is the prime opportunity to infiltrate our country, and the data should raise immediate concerns, especially with the increasing threats of terror attacks,” Biggs said, referring to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered a war.

CBP’s San Diego Field Office issued a memo Friday warning of members of Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attempting to cross the border.

The San Diego office “assesses that individuals inspired by, or reacting to, the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the southwest border,” according to the memo, which was first reported Monday by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Foreign fighters motivated by ideology or mercenary soldiers of fortune may attempt to obfuscate travel to or from the U.S. to or from countries in the Middle East through Mexico,” that CBP memo says.

McCarthy finally signaled a willingness to change House rules to allow any member of Congress to challenge the Speaker’s position, but many who have been calling for the rule change aren’t moved by his late concession. According to Fox News:

Under current rules, which were imposed under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, only a member of the House leadership can offer a motion to vacate, while the new proposal would allow any member of the House to force a vote to remove the speaker, at any time.

On Sunday afternoon, McCarthy met with GOP members to try and rally support for his speakership vote on Jan. 3, when the new Congress takes office. The embattled Republican leader conceded rank-and-file members will be allowed to call for the speaker’s removal, though he wasn’t clear about how many members would need to sign on to the motion, according to reports.

The meeting came after his letter on New Year’s Eve, titled “Restoring the People’s House and Ending Business as Usual,” which was his admission of the deep dysfunction of the House of Representatives and his pitch to make it right.

In response to McCarthy’s letter, GOP Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Chip Roy of Texas, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Harris of Maryland and Andrew Clyde of Georgia, along with Rep.-elects Andy Nogales of Tennessee, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Eli Crane of Arizona sent a letter of their own.

“Regrettably, however, despite some progress achieved, Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd,” the letter stated. “At this state, it cannot be a surprise that expressions of vague hopes reflected in far too many of the crucial points still under debate are insufficient. This is especially true with respect to Mr. McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker because the times call for radical departure from the status quo – not a continuation of past and ongoing, Republican failures.”

The letter continues to say that McCarthy’s 14-year presence in senior house leadership puts the burden of House dysfunction on him, which he now admits.

McCarthy needs a majority — 218 votes — to become Speaker. That means he can only afford to lose four Republicans if no Democrats vote for him. If the conservative holdouts do not bend, then McCarthy will scramble to get Democrat support. In fact, he’s almost certainly doing that right now.

America First patriot Andy Biggs has challenged McCarthy for the spot. Congressman Steve Scalise has been floated as a compromise selection if McCarthy can’t get the votes. The House will vote for Speaker on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, we’re HOPING to see the second reign of Nancy Pelosi come to an end, not just because she’ll have to hand over the gavel but also because we’d expect her to retire from Congress altogether. Pray for that. But with Republican Kevin McCarthy the current Minority Leader, it seems like he’s the most likely next Speaker.

McCarthy is a RINO. He’s a Trump ally when it’s convenient and public but behind closed doors he’s nowhere near being a proponent of America First policies. He may not be quite as bad as Mitch McConnell in the Senate, but he’s pretty darn feckless. The GOP needs someone better to take on the Biden-Harris regime as well as Chuck Schumer should he retain his power as Senate Majority Leader, which seems likely barring a miracle in Arizona or Nevada plus a win by Herschel Walker in the Georgia runoff next month.

That better person is Congressman Andy Biggs from Arizona, and it appears he’s poised to accept the challenge. According to Washington Examiner:

Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) is likely to run against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to become the next speaker of the House if Republicans lock down a majority in the lower chamber, a member of the powerful conservative group confirmed on Sunday.

Biggs has been critical of McCarthy’s leadership in the minority, voicing concerns that the California Republican won’t prioritize issues important to the far-right flank of the party. CNN first reported the news of Biggs’s likely bid against McCarthy.

“I think we need to have a real discussion about whether he should be the speaker or not,” Biggs told reporters on Thursday.

“I think that his statement recently that we shouldn’t impeach Secretary Mayorkas indicates that maybe we’re not going to be as aggressive going forward as we should be. I think we need to have a very positive statement of what we’re going to accomplish and do, and I haven’t seen that yet,” he added. “That’s — those are things that I think we should have a very frank discussion internally about, where we’re going to be going forward.”

The news of Biggs’s expected run comes as House Republicans are slated to hold their leadership elections on Tuesday. A number of both current and incoming lawmakers have been vocal in their calls for the conference to push back its leadership elections until they know the final makeup of the House.

“I think we don’t even know if we’re in the majority, so I think it’s responsible to just look and see where the cards fall right now, and we don’t know,” Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY) said on Sunday.

McCarthy has continued to express confidence in the likelihood of Republicans taking the majority despite the party falling significantly short of his projection last year that the GOP could pick up 60 seats.

Kevin McCarthy would challenge Paul Ryan and John Boehner for the title of worst RINO Speaker of the 21st Century. Andy Biggs would be the best Speaker of the House in decades. Let’s hope Republicans in Congress see it this way, too.