One Democrat slammed the White House for listening to “immigration activists” instead of people who live on the border.
Henry Cuellar said he has been speaking with Border Patrol agents, sheriffs, and community members in Texas who say they don’t want President Joe Biden to end Title 42. The Trump-era immigration restriction has allowed authorities to cite health concerns and turn migrants away from the U.S.-Mexico border. Biden announced he will rescind the policy on May 23.
“This message of lifting Title 42 is going to go straight to the criminal organizations,” Cuellar said on Fox News Sunday. “Over the last six months, there were more than 1 million encounters, and that doesn’t even include the getaways.”
Cuellar emphasized the huge profit cartels are making smuggling people to and over the border. Estimating the organizations are charging $8,000 per migrant, Cuellar said the cartels have made more than $8 billion before factoring in profits from running drugs.
The Biden administration isn’t listening to Cuellar, or other people who live in communities along the border, Cuellar said.
“We’ve told them, but they said they’re going to continue with lifting Title 42,” he said. “Yes, they’re listening to immigration activists, but my question is, who’s listening to the men and women in green and blue?’ And, more importantly, who is listening to the border communities?”
As Customs and Border Protection builds more processing facilities, Cuellar warned that more agents are getting pulled away from patrolling the border, exacerbating a situation that he says will get worse when Title 42 goes away.
“It’s like having a school and we’re only teaching with 40% of the teachers,” he said. “The messages are going out to the smugglers and to the migrants that on May 23, you can go ahead and come in, and Border Patrol is only working with 40% of its men and women.”
