<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1667832369711,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000016c-727c-d9b2-af6f-f7ff06a00003","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1667832369711,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000016c-727c-d9b2-af6f-f7ff06a00003","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_67418194", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1124873"} }); ","_id":"00000184-528e-d2c9-a9e6-f29e4a4e0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video Embed
AUSTIN, Texas — The top House Republican declared that ending the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border would be the first issue of business if the party wins back Congress on Tuesday.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Sunday stumped for three Republican Latinas vying for Texas border districts and told CNN in an interview that the border is the most significant and pressing issue in the United States.
THREE REPUBLICAN LATINAS SAY BIDEN’S BORDER BLUNDERS WILL LAND THEM THREE TEXAS BORDER DISTRICTS
“The first thing you’ll see is a bill to control the border first,” McCarthy told CNN. “You’ve got to get control over the border. You’ve had almost 2 million people just this year alone coming across.”
McCarthy visited the border city of McAllen over the weekend and endorsed Rep. Mayra Flores, Monica De La Cruz, and Cassy Garcia for contentious races against two incumbent Democrats and one newcomer.
McCarthy said the House GOP had a “number of different ways” to respond to the nearly 4 million people who have been encountered attempting to cross the southern border without permission since President Joe Biden took office. Illegal immigrant encounters under Biden already outpace all encounters in former President Barack Obama’s eight years.
One of McCarthy’s top concerns is pushing back against the flood of fentanyl coming over the southern border — virtually all through the ports of entry not by way of illegal immigrants. Fentanyl seizures at the border have gone from two pounds in 2013 to 14,700 pounds in fiscal 2022, which ended in September.
“You first do a very frontal attack on China to stop the poison from coming,” McCarthy said, referring to the precursor ingredients that Mexican cartels purchase from China to make the synthetic fentanyl.
In July, House Republicans debuted a comprehensive plan to regain control of the southern border that they will implement if Conservatives retake the House or Senate this November.
The Republican plan pulled from previous initiatives used by the Trump administration and was meant to address the state of the border before conceding to the Democrats’ demands on providing solutions for people living in the country illegally.
The proposal touted the need for a physical barrier, infrastructure, and technology on the 2,000-mile southern border. Although the Trump administration funded 800 miles of border wall projects, it completed just over 450 miles, and many were replacement fencing. The influx of illegal immigrants crossing the border under Biden is one indicator that the additions to the border wall have not prevented people from crossing.
Republicans planned to bolster staffing levels at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the 60,000-person federal agency tasked with inspecting vehicles and apprehending people attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.
The plan also called for the clearing of tall grass known as carrizo cane that grows along hundreds of miles of the Rio Grande in Texas and makes it difficult for Border Patrol agents to see and walk through.
Conservatives supported the return to Trump-era initiatives, including returning asylum-seekers to Mexico for the duration of their court proceedings and immediately turning away all illegal immigrants on the basis that the country is in a public health crisis. McCarthy said Sunday that “Return to Mexico” ought to be reinstated.
“I think ‘Stay in Mexico’ you have to have right off the bat,” McCarthy said Sunday.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Under Republicans’ strategy for the border, families would not be released into the U.S. after being apprehended, but they would be detained together in custody. Unaccompanied migrant children from countries other than Mexico and Canada would no longer be admitted into the country as suspected victims of human trafficking.
However, McCarthy said he envisioned any legislation pushed by the House GOP, including those on non-border issues, would be more about drawing a line in the sand than changing the law because of the 60-vote minimum needed in the Senate and ultimately Biden’s ability to veto.
