By HANK BERRIENFebruary 11, 2019
Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) has released a powerful video of his recent trip to the Rio Grande Valley sector of the border, where he interviewed border patrol officials, saw the difference between areas that have a border fence and those that don’t, and came away completely convinced of the need for a physical barrier and strengthened resources at the border. He said, “The problem at our border is very real. Our border agents are forced to confront massive groups of migrants daily without the necessary resources to enforce our laws. We must give them the additional personnel, technology and barriers that allow them to properly do their jobs. Enough is enough, it’s time for an honest discussion about border security.”
The video begins by noting that the Rio Grande Valley is divided into two parts: east and west. In the west, as many as 1,000 immigrants can illegally cross into McAllen every day. But in the east, as Brownsville, there are hardly any illegal crossings. The video asks, “The terrain is similar. Both areas are a mix of rural and urban. So why the difference?”
The screen then cuts to Crenshaw standing in Brownsville in front of the massive fence on the border. He notes, “I want you to notice a couple of things: First of all, having a giant fence here doesn’t necessarily mean the United States has cut itself off from access to the Rio Grande. That’s not exactly what’s happening. The other statistic that we have to point out is in this area, in Brownsville, Brownsville is responsible for about 6% of illegal crossings.”
Crenshaw gestures to the fence, adding, “And this is why.” He continues, “The McAllen area, which doesn’t have all this infrastructure that you see, doesn’t have the fencing, doesn’t have the barbed wire, also doesn’t have a lot of the technology that they have in Brownsville, is responsible for 94% of illegal crossings. So it doesn’t take a whole lot of analysis here to figure out why this is working. And I also want you to notice that on the Mexican side, they’ve got fencing as well, because border security is important to both the United States and Mexico. We all benefit from this. Again, just common sense.”
Later, riding along near McAllen at night with the deputy chief of the sector, Crenshaw asks, “Chief, on any given day here how many apprehensions are you seeing?”
The deputy chief answers, “So, for the fiscal year we’re averaging about 640 (per night) but over the last three days that number has risen quite a bit. We’ve had several days where we apprehended about 850 folks, and then yesterday we had over a thousand. So almost 2,700 over the last three days.”
Crenshaw asks how many of the 1,000 illegal immigrants that came the day before were not seen by sensors or cameras and went unapprehended. The deputy chief answers, “We had 170 people get away from us that we didn’t know of … we were tied up dealing with the unaccompanied children and family units that we were also encountering … It becomes a resource issue; we don’t have enough agents; we don’t have enough infrastructure, and we certainly don’t have enough technology out here.”
Crenshaw comments, “I was always under the impression, because Democrats keep saying that all you need are drones and censors, it’s the magical solution: it just solves itself. But I guess that’s not true.”
Deputy Chief, succinctly: “No, sir.”
Crenshaw discusses the asylum process, noting, “Once these asylum cases are actually adjudicated, only 15% are shown to be valid. That means that the vast majority of these people have no asylum claim that’s valid whatsoever. They’re not being politically prosecuted; they’re economic migrants. I’m sure they’re good people, but we have a system in place, and what’s actually happening is they’re cutting in front of the many, many other good people who are coming to the country legally. My family did that; my own stepmother is a legal immigrant. Lots of our family friends are legal immigrants. I don’t agree with cutting in front of them.”
Crenshaw explains why more and more children are appearing at the border, creating a humanitarian crisis. “All of these immigrants know that if they bring a child with them that they get treated differently. Whether they claim asylum or not, there’s an almost guarantee that they will just be released in the U.S. population.”
Speaking of the drug cartels, Crenshaw noted, “They’re trafficking children as well; we just saw that today. This isn’t good for the kids coming across; we have to remove these incentives so that we can reduce this humanitarian crisis.”
Crenshaw later points out that it isn’t necessary for a fence across the entire border, because if there is enough fencing, the illegal traffic would be funneled into specific areas where border patrol could handle it.
As the video comes to a close, the captions state: “It’s time for Americans to hear the truth about the border debate. Secure fencing works. It’s a part of the solution, but not the whole solution. No one is asking for a 2,000 mile wall. Border security is a mix of fencing, technology, and personnel. And it is time that we fully fund the Border Patrol’s request for fencing where they need it.”