GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, fed up with the lassitude that the Biden administration has shown dealing with the huge numbers of illegal immigrants crossing the border, offered a novel suggestion to fix the problem.
In data released last Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported they had arrested roughly double the number of illegal aliens in 2022 from 2021. ICE made roughly 143,000 arrests in fiscal year 2022 as opposed to roughly 74,000 arrests in 2021.
“Let’s solve the border crisis in one tweet,” Crenshaw began his Twitter thread. “Instead of spending billions more on ‘processing,’ spend more money on jet fuel. Pack planes full of migrants who cross illegally and deport them immediately. The crisis will end within months.”
Let’s solve the border crisis in one tweet. Instead of spending billions more on “processing,” spend more money on jet fuel.
Pack planes full of migrants who cross illegally and deport them immediately. The crisis will end within months.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 2, 2023
“Why not just turn them away when they cross?” he asked rhetorically. “Many have asked why Texas doesn’t do that. Because we have a river. Once they’re in the river, they’re within our jurisdiction. We can’t physically secure the Rio Grande. Even if we did turn them back, they’d cross somewhere else.”
Why not just turn them away when they cross? Many have asked why Texas doesn’t do that.
Because we have a river. Once they’re in the river, they’re within our jurisdiction. We can’t physically secure the Rio Grande. Even if we did turn them back, they’d cross somewhere else.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 2, 2023
“So you need jet fuel,” he reasoned. “You need to be sending people far away from the border, thus making it unimaginable for someone to make the journey all the way north if they’re just gonna be sent back home.”
So you need jet fuel. You need to be sending people far away from the border, thus making it unimaginable for someone to make the journey all the way north if they’re just gonna be sent back home.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 2, 2023
Then Crenshaw turned to the problem of repatriation, noting former President Trump had found a successful way to encourage Latin America to cooperate: “And if the State Department can’t negotiate agreements for repatriation (think Cuba and Venezuela)? Then versions of Remain in Mexico policy must be aggressively pursued. Trump did this by threatening Mexico with tariffs. It worked. What about people with legitimate asylum claims? Well, we should have a process to claim asylum through our consulates and embassies in those countries or neighboring ones. Trump did this, it was called Asylum Cooperation Agreements. Biden ended those.”
What about people with legitimate asylum claims? Well, we should have a process to claim asylum through our consulates and embassies in those countries or neighboring ones. Trump did this, it was called Asylum Cooperation Agreements. Biden ended those.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 2, 2023
Crenshaw fired at the Biden administration: “The truth is, the ‘compassion’ of democrats open borders has allowed so much abuse to take place of our asylum system that the backlog is well over a million. This means that real asylum seekers around the world have almost no chance of getting into the system. In summary: fund airplanes, holding facilities, immigration judges, ICE prosecutors, walls, and technology capable of detecting fentanyl. And stop the abuses of our asylum system. That’s what border security would look like.”
In summary: fund airplanes, holding facilities, immigration judges, ICE prosecutors, walls, and technology capable of detecting fentanyl. And stop the abuses of our asylum system. That’s what border security would look like.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 2, 2023