U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

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89–011 2019

116th Congress, 1st Session – – – – – – – – – – – – – House Document 116–22 

VETO MESSAGE ON H.J. RES. 46 

MESSAGE 

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRANSMITTING

NOTIFICATION OF THE VETO OF H.J. RES. 46, ‘‘RELATING TO A 

NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARED BY THE PRESIDENT ON FEBRUARY 15, 2019’’ 

MARCH 18, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 


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To The House of Representatives: 

I am returning herewith without my approval H.J. Res. 46, a 

joint resolution that would terminate the national emergency I declared regarding the crisis on our southern border in Proclamation 

9844 on February 15, 2019, pursuant to the National Emergencies 

Act. 

As demonstrated by recent statistics published by U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection (CBP) and explained in testimony given by 

the Secretary of Homeland Security on March 6, 2019, before the 

House Committee on Homeland Security, our porous southern border continues to be a magnet for lawless migration and criminals 

and has created a border security and humanitarian crisis that endangers every American. Last month alone, CBP apprehended 

more than 76,000 aliens improperly attempting to enter the United 

States along the southern border—the largest monthly total in the 

last 5 years. In fiscal year 2018, CBP seized more than 820,000 

pounds of drugs at our southern border, including 24,000 pounds 

of cocaine, 64,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 5,000 pounds of 

heroin, and 1,800 pounds of fentanyl. In fiscal years 2017 and 

2018, immigration officers nationwide made 266,000 arrests of 

aliens previously charged with or convicted of crimes. These crimes 

included approximately 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 

4,000 killings. In other words, aliens coming across our border have 

injured or killed thousands of people, while drugs flowing through 

the border have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. 

The current situation requires our frontline border enforcement 

personnel to vastly increase their humanitarian efforts. Along their 

dangerous trek to the United States, 1 in 3 migrant women experiences sexual abuse, and 7 in 10 migrants are victims of violence. 

Fifty migrants per day are referred for emergency medical care, 

and CBP rescues 4,300 people per year who are in danger and distress. The efforts to address this humanitarian catastrophe draw 

resources away from enforcing our Nation’s immigration laws and 

protecting the border, and place border security personnel at increased risk. 

As troubling as these statistics are, they reveal only part of the 

reality. The situation at the southern border is rapidly deteriorating because of who is arriving and how they are arriving. For 

many years, the majority of individuals who arrived illegally were 

single adults from Mexico. Under our existing laws, we could detain and quickly remove most of these aliens. More recently, however, illegal migrants have organized into caravans that include 

large numbers of families and unaccompanied children from Central American countries. Last year, for example, a record number 

of families crossed the border illegally. If the current trend holds, 

the number of families crossing in fiscal year 2019 will greatly surpass last year’s record total. Criminal organizations are taking adVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089011 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\HD022.XXX HD022
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vantage of these large flows of families and unaccompanied minors 

to conduct dangerous illegal activity, including human trafficking, 

drug smuggling, and brutal killings. 

Under current laws, court decisions, and resource constraints, 

the Government cannot detain families or undocumented alien children from Central American countries in significant numbers or 

quickly deport them. Instead, the Government is forced to release 

many of them into the interior of the United States, pending 

lengthy judicial proceedings. Although many fail ever to establish 

any legal right to remain in this country, they stay nonetheless. 

This situation on our border cannot be described as anything 

other than a national emergency, and our Armed Forces are needed 

to help confront it. 

My highest obligation as President is to protect the Nation and 

its people. Every day, the crisis on our border is deepening, and 

with new surges of migrants expected in the coming months, we 

are straining our border enforcement personnel and resources to 

the breaking point. 

H.J. Res. 46 ignores these realities. It is a dangerous resolution 

that would undermine United States sovereignty and threaten the 

lives and safety of countless Americans. It is, therefore, my duty 

to return it to the House of Representatives without my approval. 

DONALD J. TRUMP. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, March 15, 2019. 

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