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Gov. Abbott: Border Patrol Told Me Biden Is ‘Empowering The Drug Cartels,’ ‘Going To Get Far Worse’

   DailyWire.com
AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 29: Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the US Army Corps of Engineers and the state are putting up a 250-bed field hospital at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas during a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Sunday, March 29, 2020. The space can expand to nearly 1,400 beds. Joining him was former State Representative Dr. John Zerwas (left) and Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt, MD.
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Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned Sunday that Border Patrol officials informed him President Joe Biden’s policies are causing a worsening humanitarian crisis on the border and fueling Mexico’s notoriously violent drug cartels.

“I went down to the border this past weekend, and I met with Border Patrol officers. And here’s what they told me,” Abbott told Fox News. “The Border Patrol officers themselves told me that they informed the Biden administration that, because of the policy changes, it was going to lead to this massive surge that we are just now beginning to see, knowing that it’s going to be getting far worse in the coming months.”

“They also said that the reason for the change, the reason for the increase and the influx is because of the policy change by the Biden administration,” Abbott said. “More importantly, though is … Border Patrol officers told me that the Biden administration policies, they are enriching and they are empowering the drug cartels in Mexico, who make money off of the people that they assist in smuggling them into the state of Texas.”

“The cartels make money off of these migrants that you and your viewers see on TV. They also told me about the escalating numbers of the people coming across the border,” he added. “In the Rio Grande Valley sector alone, all of last year, they made 90,000 apprehensions. Already this year, in the first two-and-a-half months of this year, they have made about 110,000 apprehensions. Including in those apprehensions are 800 criminal aliens, criminal aliens who have previously been arrested and exported from the United States, 78 sex offenders and 62 gang members, which include MS-13 gangs.”

WATCH:

TRANSCRIPT:

MARIA BARTIROMO, SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES ANCHOR: And first up this morning, the humanitarian crisis at our Southern border, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents executing more than 100,000 apprehensions in February alone. That is a 28 percent increase from the previous month, when President Trump was still in office.

The Biden administration continues to bear no responsibility for the spike, despite overturning President Trump’s tough stance on illegal migration. The Biden administration prefers to call it a human challenge.

Joining me right now is the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, whose state is at the center of all of this.

Governor, good morning to you. Thanks very much for joining us.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Of course, Maria. Good morning.

BARTIROMO: Governor, assess the situation for us.

I know that you were at the border just yesterday, this weekend. I want you to walk us through, what are the biggest and most important challenges our audience need to understand?

ABBOTT: Two things, Maria.

One is the dramatic increase in the influx of people coming across the border. Remember this. As you were kind of pointing out, it’s the Biden open border policies that are inviting even more illegal immigration and actually have created this humanitarian crisis.

As you know, I went down to the border this past weekend, and I met with Border Patrol officers. And here’s what they told me. The Border Patrol officers themselves told me that they informed the Biden administration that, because of the policy changes, it was going to lead to this massive surge that we are just now beginning to see, knowing that it’s going to be getting far worse in the coming months.

They also said that the reason for the change, the reason for the increase and the influx is because of the policy change by the Biden administration. More importantly, though, Maria, is this challenge.

And that is, the Border Patrol officers told me that the Biden administration policies, they are enriching and they are empowering the drug cartels in Mexico, who make money off of the people that they assist in smuggling them into the state of Texas.

The cartels make money off of these migrants that you and your viewers see on TV. They also told me about the escalating numbers of the people coming across the border. Some quick numbers real quick. And that is, over all of last year, in the Rio Grande Valley sector alone — so, for your viewers in Texas, Texas has several Border Patrol sectors.

In the Rio Grande Valley sector alone, all of last year, they made 90,000 apprehensions. Already this year, in the first two and-a-half months of this year, they have made about 110,000 apprehensions. Including in those apprehensions are 800 criminal aliens, criminal aliens who have previously been arrested and exported from the United States, 78 sex offenders and 62 gang members, which include MS-13 gangs.

And, so, Maria, in response to this, we had to launch what I call Operation Lone Star. Let me tell you what this operation does.

BARTIROMO: OK.

ABBOTT: What the cartels do, they surge all these people to the border. They fully occupy all the Border Patrol agents.

And when those Border Patrol agents are occupied, they know that there are gaps along the border. And what the cartels do, they surge people through those gaps. Operation Lone Star includes National Guard, as well Texas Department of Public Safety officers, to fill the gaps to prevent the cartels from bringing across the border the most dangerous criminal elements, as well as the opioids that they’re trying to smuggle across the border.

BARTIROMO: Now, this is putting our agents in harm’s way, isn’t it?

I spoke with some border agents myself this week and last week. And they told me that a local congresswoman, Veronica Escobar, told them not to carry their machine guns because the migrants are feeling threatened.

Now, I spoke with Congresswoman Escobar’s office, and they’re telling me she never said this, she never put anyone in danger, and she never told them.

But the border agents are saying, no, no, no, she said, please don’t carry your weapons, your machine guns to the bridge, because it is making the migrants feel uncomfortable, and then they won’t turn themselves in.

Isn’t that putting our agents in harm’s way? Is that what’s happening? Tell us, because she said she never said that, and she is absolutely denying that she said don’t carry your weapons, your machine guns.

ABBOTT: So, our Border Patrol agents are being put in harm’s way in several ways, one, because they’re having to deal with the increase in the cartel activity.

Two, as you know, the cartels are very heavily armed, and our Border Patrol agents have to respond to that. And they need all their weapons.

But, Maria, there’s another way in which our Border Patrol agents are being put in harm’s way. And that is, the Biden administration was not providing COVID vaccines for the Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley region.

Because of my public outcry about that when I was down on the border, now, finally, the Biden administration has changed gears, and they are doing exactly what I called for, and that is providing the Border Patrol with the vaccines they needed, because they are exposed to everybody coming across the border, and they need to be vaccinated. Finally, the Biden administration is stepping up and providing those vaccines.

BARTIROMO: So, this drug war, the cartels, this is an incredibly dangerous situation happening right at the border.

We have expectations that we’re going to talk with Senator Cornyn in the next block about how much they are charging to get people across the border. He says it’s from all countries, it’s from all over the world, and depending on where you come from, it’s a different price.

One of the reasons is the COVID situation, as you mentioned. There is a story from The Washington Times that migrants are flooding across the U.S. border with as much as 10 times the COVID-19 rate as Americans. Your reaction?

ABBOTT: I’m sorry, 10 times what?

BARTIROMO: Ten times the COVID rate as Americans.

ABBOTT: Yes.

BARTIROMO: In other words, it’s 10 times worse, the COVID coming across the border.

ABBOTT: So, Maria, I have not seen any data about what the COVID rate is.

I do know this fact that came from the Border Patrol officers that I spoke with. And that is there are migrants coming across the border who do have COVID-19. So, you raise a point that I’m expecting answers from the Biden administration immediately this week.

We need the total number of migrants who have been apprehended at the border who have tested positive for COVID-19. The state of Texas is responsible for fully reporting out anybody in our state who has COVID-19. The Biden administration has refused and failed to give to our state the total number of migrants who have COVID-19.

We expect that data. And we expect the Biden administration to step up and assist the state of Texas in being able to respond to that imported challenge, imported only because of the change in policies by the Biden administration.

BARTIROMO: Have you spoken with President Biden? Has he called you?

ABBOTT: I personally have not spoken with President Biden about this. The last time I talked to him was when he was in Houston, Texas, a couple weeks ago.

But our office has been in constant communication with their office, with one exception. And that is, we got surprise news at 9:30 last night, so 12 hours ago. We got surprise news from the federal HHS that they’re going to be sending some of these migrants over to a holding facility in Midland, which, if they’re going to be working with us, the governor of the state of Texas has to know exactly what they’re doing.

How many people are they bringing in here? Where are those people going? Where are they going after that? What type of COVID protocols are they using? What are going to they do to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 concerning all the people they’re bringing into the state of Texas?

Maria, there are so many questions that are completely unanswered by the Biden administration and the danger that they’re putting onto the backs of our fellow Texans.

BARTIROMO: Is that why they’re sending FEMA in right now? Are they overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of teenagers, that they say that they need FEMA to now oversee it? This is the latest news.

ABBOTT: So, it is a fact that they are overwhelmed.

But really what’s stunning is, they surprise — they express surprise and shock about the fact that they are overwhelmed, when the Border Patrol and really everybody here in Texas has known that this is coming, especially because of the change in policies by the Biden administration.

And so they are overwhelmed. And they’re finally stepping up and providing resources they need. But it’s a day late and it’s really far short.

BARTIROMO: This agenda obviously has impacted Texas so much and the country.

Governor, is there anything you can do about it? We’re also talking about the administration wanting to remove the state’s ownership and overseeing of elections with this H.R.1. Can you do anything about it to not get the election oversight taken from the state of Texas with H.R.1?

ABBOTT: Absolutely.

Maria, you may remember that, before I was governor, I was the attorney general of Texas. And when the Obama administration tried doing things like this, I filed 31 lawsuits against the Obama administration. The strongest tool that we have is the litigation tool.

And when you look at some of the things that they’re talking about with regard to H.R.1, they’re trying to institutionalize voter fraud in the United States of America. They want to make mail-in ballots permanent. Everyone knows, including Democrats in Texas have said that one of the easiest way to cheat in elections is through these mail-in ballots.

They want to make it harder to require the use of voter I.D. They want to protect ballot harvesting.

Real quickly, let me tell you an amazing story, because it was Barack Obama himself who knew about the dangers of ballot harvesting in the state of Texas, because, under his administration, he sent his U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, as well as FBI to South Texas, to arrest and to prosecute people who were involved in ballot harvesting that were using cocaine to buy votes through the ballot harvesting process in the state of Texas.

It is a way to commit voter fraud, and it cannot be allowed.

BARTIROMO: This is absolutely extraordinary, Governor. Thanks very much for sharing this very important information. We, of course, will keep a spotlight on this subject, voter integrity.

Governor, good to see you this morning. Thanks very much.

ABBOTT: Thank you, Maria.

BARTIROMO: Our prayers are with you and your leadership on this crisis at the border.

Governor Greg Abbott, we will see you soon, sir. Thanks very much.

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