Sen Hagerty: 'I want to strengthen and expand Title 42'
Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty (R) on his proposal to keep Title 42 and extend the public health order to cover drug overdoses from border smuggling.
Sen. Bill Hagerty said Tuesday he wants to "expand and strengthen" Title 42 to fight the overdose epidemic fueled by drug smuggling at the southern border.
"Here in America, we lost 100,000 lives last year to drug overdoses," Hagerty, R-Tenn., told "America's Newsroom" host Bill Hemmer, explaining his proposal to keep Title 42.
"They've (Border Patrol) only got the capacity to process 5,000 people right now at the border. They're already at 8,000. When Title 42 is lifted, they think the number will climb to 15-18,000. They will be completely overwhelmed," he warned.
ALASKA FEELING EFFECTS OF BORDER CRISIS, ‘HIT HARD’ BY FENTANYL DEATHS
As border crossings continue to break records, the influx is only expected to get worse with the May expiration of Title 42. With numbers lowering from the summer highs, but still remaining high compared to prior winter months, lawmakers and officials have warned that a surge that could outpace last year’s could be on the way.
Hagerty said President Biden, VP Harris, and top Democrats should visit the border and prioritize finding a solution.
"Biden has never been to the border. Kamala Harris was eight to 1,200 miles away from where we were at the hot spot. I've tried to get some of my Democratic colleagues to come down and see this. They will not come."
YUMA, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 07: Immigrant men from many countries are taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border on December 07, 2021 in Yuma, Arizona. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Hagerty added that China is playing an active role in drugs coming across the border.
"The CCP and the cartels have partnered up, and they've just created a tidal wave of illicit drugs that are coming across that border and killing our kids now."
Host Bill Hemmer asked Hagerty why he believes the administration and other Democrats appear not to care about the border and drug crisis.
"They're able to get more people into those states and actually get the numbers up, so they can shift the number of congressional districts, eventually electoral votes. … They're ignoring it, and they're stepping back waiting for electoral benefits or some sort of economic benefit," he said.
Hagerty emphasized the Mexican cartels and China are the only ones benefiting from the drug flow as a result of Democrats' open-border policies.
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"The real winners of this are the billion-dollar cartels that have basically taken control of the northern border of Mexico and their partners in China that are shipping the precursors to fentanyl all over."
Fox News Adam Shaw contributed to this report
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