JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Gainesville, recently took two trips to the southern border and describes what she saw there as an ongoing crisis sparked by the decisions made by President Joe Biden during the first months of his administration.
Cammack, a freshman member of the U.S. House who represents Florida’s 3rd Congressional District, told Kent Justice on This Week in Jacksonville the situation along the Southwest border where a rising number of people are attempting to enter the country, especially unaccompanied minors, is both heartbreaking and infuriating.
Recommended Videos
“I went to McAllen, Texas and the surrounding areas... where the surge of migrants coming across our open borders is at the highest rates that we have ever seen,” Cammack said. “We are breaking records every single day to the tune of almost 3,000 in one sector alone. That is on an unsustainable, unconscionable amount of people that are coming across our borders unchecked.”
Adults have been turned back under a public health order issued by Trump amid the pandemic, The Washington Post reported, but the administration has been letting unaccompanied children and some families stay. Last month, the U.S. government found 19,000 children traveling alone across the Mexican border in March, the largest monthly number ever recorded, the Post reported. And U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than 172,000 people attempting to cross the US-Mexico border in March, a 71% increase from February, CNN reported.
Cammack said the administration has incentivized people to come here by not enforcing laws on the books. This week, Arizona’s top state prosecutor sued the Biden administration over what he calls “environmentally disruptive” decisions to halt border wall construction and change immigration policies.
“We’re going to be dealing with the fallout for months, possibly years on this,” Cammack said. “We have got to get serious on putting pressure on our Mexican partners, on our Central American partners to secure their borders.”
You can watch the entire interview with Rep. Cammack on This Week in Jacksonville at 9 a.m. Sunday on Channel 4 and at noon Sunday on CW17.
