GOP candidates have no 'concrete plan' to rein in border crisis, rancher warns: It 'takes more than a wall'

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Republican candidates had 'no concrete plan' to combat border crisis: New Mexico rancher Russell Johnson

New Mexico rancher Russell Johnson, Gold Star father Dan Hoover and single mother of two and special education TA Lindsay Stafford break down GOP candidates' responses to their most pressing issues.

Republican candidates have "no real plan" to rein in Biden's border crisis, Russell Johnson, a rancher from New Mexico, warned Thursday. 

On the heels of the first presidential primary debate, he joined a "Fox & Friends First" panel complete with Gold Star father Dan Hoover and special education teaching assistant Lindsay Stafford, each sounding off on how the candidates brought attention to their most pressing concerns. 

"You hear a lot of campaign promises and nobody ever follows through with them. There is no candidate really that stuck out to me," Johnson told host Carley Shimkus.

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The elephant, a symbol of the Republican Party, on in a rug in the lobby of the Republican Partys headquarters in Washington.  (Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)

"Everybody said basically the same thing – 'Let's secure the border,' but there was never any concrete plan of how they were going to do that. It's going to take more than just finishing the wall. There's a lot of other aspects of this issue that are going to need some housecleaning. For one, immigration reform, labor reform. It's going to take a lot more than just this wall."

Candidates went head-to-head Wednesday night, and reference to former president and current presidential hopeful Donald Trump's plan to construct a border wall surfaced multiple times.

Johnson's ranch sits close to the U.S.-Mexico border, where he grapples with the migrant crisis firsthand.

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Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took a bold stance on going after drug cartels during Wednesday's GOP primary debate. ((Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))

Shimkus posed a question about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' plan to take things a step further than Trump and send special forces across the border to wage war on drug cartels.

"That's a slippery slope, in my opinion," Johnson said, cautioning the idea. "It hits kind of close to home. I live three miles off the border. If we start launching attacks into Mexico, what kind of repercussions are we going to see on this side of the border? You know, are we going to start seeing the same attacks being taken to American citizens like us?

"And when we have very little protection like we do right now, it kind of concerns me a little bit. But as long as there's, you know, things in place to prevent that, we've got to do what we've got to do to secure this border."

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Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) speaks to guests at the Family Leadership Summit on July 14, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa. Linday Stafford, a special education TA and a single mom of two, said Scott's performance from Wednesday's debate resonated with her most. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The discussion coincides concerns over deadly fentanyl pouring across the southern border and migrants entering the country at remarkable highs. 

For Hoover and Stafford, however, other issues took center stage, including the economy and the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan – where Hoover's son Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover was one of 13 U.S. service members killed in an August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum - who also appeared on the debate stage Wednesday - was, as Shimkus noted, the only candidate to mention the fiasco while discussing foreign policy. 

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"I thought it was decent that he was able to bring it up, but a missed opportunity by all the rest of them. Absolutely," Hoover said. "At least for this family, who, quite frankly, we feel like we've been disrespected and brushed to the side by this administration. I would like to have seen a little bit more substance, if you will. And it just it kind of fell flat for me, in all honesty."

Stafford, a special education TA and a single mom of nine and seven-year-old daughters, said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott's debate performance resonated with her personally.

"He made it personal," she said. "He talked about the inflation. And more than anything, what I mostly am focused on is that I am a single mom and inflation, I think, has hit me the most. My electric bill last month was nearly $200 and going to the grocery and having to budget and rethink what I'm spending…that definitely is more what I was paying attention to last night and who was going to make that real…"

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