The Mayor of McAllen, Texas hosted a roundtable discussion on Title 42 with a congressional delegation on Wednesday. The Republican mayor emphasized the importance of Title 42 remaining in effect as the humanitarian crisis on the southern border continues to spiral out of control. Twelve House Republicans toured the border, the largest congressional delegation to travel to the southern border since the pandemic. The delegation was led by House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith. There was a focus on cartel activity and the waste of taxpayer dollars in unused border wall construction materials.

The press release from Smith’s office announced the focus when the trip was scheduled.

“President Biden’s open border policies have not only made America less safe, but they have emboldened the cartels who are profiting from this chaos. Roughly $96 billion has been traced going back to the cartels from illegal activity on the border including human trafficking, drug smuggling, and money laundering. Enough fentanyl has poured into our country to kill every American man, woman, and child many times over. Over 2.4 million border encounters with illegal immigrants have occurred since President Biden came into office and possibly millions more should the Biden Administration succeed in ending the Title 42 border policy.

“The President’s continued – and illegal – freeze of border wall construction funds, beginning on his first day in office, shows this Administration has no intention of slowing or stopping this crisis. Because of this costly executive action, the Department of Defense is paying contractors $6 million per day to babysit $350 million of border wall materials while America’s borders are less secure. Taxpayers are now simultaneously picking up the tab for border flights and hotel rooms for illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, Customs and Border operational funds are being diverted to provide the very childcare items to illegal immigrants which can’t be found on the shelves of stores across America.”

The delegation’s trip came just after Memorial Day weekend. The work of Border Patrol during the long weekend was summed up in a tweet by the Chief of the Border Patrol.

Over the weekend…
•43 lbs. of Narcotics (Cocaine, Meth, Fentanyl)
•9 Large Groups, totaling 1,377 migrants
•4 Warrants
•2 Sex Offenders
•A 2nd Degree Murder Conviction
 
Agents work around the clock to keep our communities safe.#USBP #BorderPatrol#HonorFirst pic.twitter.com/gGmMS7hZ6R

— Chief Raul Ortiz (@USBPChief) May 31, 2022

Del Rio Sector Weekend Rewind

Apprehensions: ​3976
• Gotaways:​​1,652
• Rescues: ​​47
• Deaths: ​​10
• Criminals:​​16 pic.twitter.com/ScxxpINJOX

— Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens (@USBPChiefDRT) June 1, 2022

The McAllen sector in the Rio Grande Valley has been hit hard by the Biden border crisis. In the month of April alone, border officials reported 41,776 encounters with illegal migrants. Border Patrol agents warned the delegation that by the end of the year, it is likely that migrant encounters will reach 2.4 million. Business for drug cartels and human traffickers is good along the southern border.

“Nearly every illegal immigrant coming across the border is being sent through the cartels,” claimed Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), who also made the trip. “This is planned and part of a strategy to overwhelm our border agents to smuggle deadly drugs into our communities. Our border agents are doing an amazing job with what they have but it is not enough.”

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) agreed, telling The Post: “We are past the breaking point at the border and the Biden Administration has shown no interest in solutions to support law enforcement on the ground or keep our country safe.”

Hinson added that the administration’s policies had “delivered a big win to cartels and traffickers.”

“For example,” she claimed, “cartels have figured out that kids are sent to the Donna Processing Facility, so they intentionally drop families and unaccompanied minors outside of centers further away to stretch our manpower as thin as possible.”

The delegation spoke to Border Patrol and Army National Guard members during their visit. The mayor’s roundtable discussion included what Border Patrol agents repeatedly told members of the delegation. They want Title 42 to continue, people who come here illegally need to have consequences for their actions, and the Remain in Mexico policy should be enforced. All of these requests from Border Patrol agents work to secure the southern border. Unfortunately, Team Biden shows little interest in doing any of it.

Mayor Javier Villalobos has been in the news for his opposition to Title 42 expiring. He warns that the flood of illegal migrants will explode once Title 42 goes away. He also calls for immigration reform.

“If they could pass some sort of immigration reform — we always talk about, for example, the ‘Dreamers’ — if both parties are supposedly in favor of it, then take care of it,” said Villalobos. “Set up different policies as far as asylum, because if the policies say right now answer one or two questions you’re in, I don’t think that’s proper.”

Villalobos added he welcomes any party representative to visit the border to learn about how immigration impacts the Rio Grande Valley.

Villalobos shouldn’t hold his breath. Immigration reform isn’t going to happen anytime soon, especially as midterm elections are on the horizon. Then we’ll be into the next presidential election cycle. Politicians aren’t willing to go there. What can be done right now is for the Biden administration to enforce the immigration laws on the books. Illegal migrants have been coached to immediately ask for asylum though they will not qualify for it. Biden invited the disaster at the southern border by saying he’d freeze deportations and only expel illegal aliens who proved to be violent or criminals who threatened the general population. The Biden border crisis is so bad that DHS is flying and bussing illegal migrants around the country, of in the dead of night, just to relieve some of the overcrowding at the border.

Biden and DHS know what they should do to secure the border. They just don’t want to do it. It is a dereliction of duty. Every state is a border state now. Maybe some of the criticism from the House about the waste of taxpayer dollars on unused material that is already paid for but not being used on the border wall is starting to pay off.

Border Wall Update:
Support is coming! Gaps & Gates approved by DHS:
•San Diego Friendship Circle
•San Diego Tijuana River
•El Centro Train Gate
•El Centro New River
•Yuma Hill Gap Closure 
•El Paso Train Gate
•RGV Access Gates
More:https://t.co/iMwz58ZANN pic.twitter.com/vXcUi3utYj

— Chief Raul Ortiz (@USBPChief) June 1, 2022

It’s about time. Millions of dollars of construction material is just sitting there, rusting, while the wall remains unfinished.

We know that morale among Border Patrol agents is at an all-time low. As agents retire or quit, the Border Patrol is advertising for recruits.

*HIRING NOW*
Up to 10K Recruitment Incentive
Rise every day to protect something greater than yourself!
 
Apply Below:https://t.co/QVdo6vDYef
 #Recruitment#LawEnforcement#BorderPatrol#BorderSecurity#USBP#HonorFirst pic.twitter.com/l4dbhp0yvi

— Chief Raul Ortiz (@USBPChief) June 2, 2022

It’s a thankless job and Biden sure doesn’t support them. He was one of the first to blame Border Patrol agents during Whipgate and it was always a phony story. He had them convicted before the investigation even began. It was disgusting.