November 2, 2021 by Isabella Colello
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWTI) — Local lawmakers are fighting vaccine mandates along U.S. borders.
On November 1, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, R-NY, and Congressman Brian Babin, R-TX, led a letter that was sent to President Joe Biden and voiced their stand on vaccine mandates on Border Patrol agents.
As Stefanik represents a New York district along the Northern Border, and Babin represents along the Southern Border, both said that a mandate “threatens already declining morale” for these agents.
The letter addressed illegal border crossing at the Southern Border, stating that Border Patrol agents have been “forced” into “no-notice deployment,” which has caused “disruptions and “burdens” on these individuals.
Stefanik also claimed that these border crossings have left portions on the Northern Border understaffed and “inadequately protected.” She said additional mandates would cause more agents to lose their jobs.
“I have heard from several of my constituents who work to protect our Northern Border, but who have been displaced from their homes to work long hours to fight Joe Biden’s crisis on the Southern Border,” Stefanik said in a press release. “Instead of rewarding them for their service, this Administration is threatening to terminate our Border Patrol agents who wish to make their own medical decisions.”
In the letter to President Biden, the lawmakers requested a suspension of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for Border Patrol agents, data on Border Patrol agents vaccination rates and natural immunity, steps the Biden Administration is taking to protect agents and other Americans from COVID-19 exposure and a determination of the impact of mass-termination of Border Patrol agents on national security.
The full letter can be read on Rep. Stefanik’s website.
Read the full article here.
