Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly warned that the United States is facing a potential “humanitarian crisis” after visiting the southern border this week.
Kelly, a Democrat facing a tough reelection battle this fall, is one of five Democratic senators who oppose the Biden administration’s decision to halt Title 42, the pandemic-era order that allowed authorities to expel migrants without first hearing asylum claims in the name of public health. Speaking to Fox News in an interview Friday, the Arizona Democrat reiterated his concerns that the White House was lifting Title 42 without a plan to handle an expected surge in illegal border crossings.
“I spent 15 years flying the Space Shuttle as a pilot of the Space Shuttle, commander of the Space Shuttle,” Kelly told the outlet. “We spent a lot of time preparing and training and making sure we have the right things in place for stuff that’s expected, and we spend an equal amount on stuff that’s unexpected, the contingency plans. In this case, the administration hasn’t even prepared, and they don’t have a plan for what to expect. Forget about the unexpected part, I’m just asking for the first part of this. We know what the situation on the ground is going to be. Let’s come up with a detailed plan and put it in place — and I just haven’t seen that.”
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The comments were similar to ones the astronaut-turned-senator made while speaking to reporters from a port of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border in Douglas, Arizona, when he said the administration’s response to his concerns about the border had been “so far, unacceptable.”
“They understand that they might have an impending problem,” Kelly said. “I don’t think they’ve come to the realization of what level it will be and that it could be a humanitarian crisis. This isn’t good for migrants. I mean, we want folks that are coming here and asking for asylum to have a humane process that is not years long. It should be rather organized and a reasonable period of time, but when we’re anticipating the number of folks that are apprehended at our southern border to go from 7,000 per day to 18,000 per day, Border Patrol is having a hard time dealing with 7,000 a day. We have no plan for how to deal with 18,000 a day.”
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“Right now, we have a crisis on our southern border. Right now, this administration does not have a plan. I warned them about this months ago,” he said at another point, “and they do not have a plan in place on how to deal with the increased numbers. And it’s going to be, to be honest, it’s going to be a crisis on top of a crisis.”
With regard to a plan, Kelly introduced a bipartisan measure earlier this month delaying the president’s move to lift the public health order by 60 days. The Biden administration said earlier this month that it would lift Title 42, first implemented under then-President Donald Trump in March 2020, on May 23 in the wake of improving pandemic-related conditions.
