Mark Kelly slams Democrats over border crisis: 'Not even close' to understanding it
President Biden hasn't visited the overwhelmed southern border in the two years he's been in office
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly criticized his own party's ineptitude in responding to the border crisis, in an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday.
The Democrat was blunt when asked if he thought his party was doing a good job in recognizing the magnitude of the problem at the southern border and Americans' frustrations with it not being addressed.
"Absolutely not. Not even close," he told the paper. "When I first got to Washington, it didn’t take me long to realize that there are a lot of Democrats who don’t understand our southern border and a lot of Republicans who just want to talk about it," he explained.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BIDEN'S FAILED BORDER POLICIES FORCED ARIZONA TO BUILD CONTAINER WALL, YUMA OFFICIAL SAYS
(AP Photo/Alberto Mariani)
Since President Biden took office, illegal border crossings have surged to historic levels. One dire result is the hundreds of thousands of opioid pills pouring across the border every week.
In the month of October alone, Customs and Border Protection reported over 230,000 border encounters, while another 64,000 migrants crossed the border without being apprehended, Fox News reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) troopers seized more than 26 pounds of fentanyl pills at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Gila Bend on Sept. 23, 2022. (Arizona Department of Public Safety)
Kelly said he was optimistic the two parties could come together to secure the border and pass immigration reform. But he reiterated his party doesn't "really understand" the problems at the border.
"We still have a situation where a lot of Democrats don’t really understand it and a lot of Republicans just want to talk about it and use it for political purposes. But I’ll tell you what, I think there are enough of us who understand it and want to accomplish something," he told The Post.
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Republican Blake Masters. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Democratic senator was re-elected to office after defeating Republican Blake Masters in the November election. Kelly said he heard voters' concerns about the border while campaigning across the state.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You can’t ignore that in Arizona. It’s been chaos down there at times, for decades," he remarked.
Arizona's Democratic Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs similarly called for more action from Democrats in addressing crime from an unsecured border.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s one of the things at the top of my agenda to talk to the president about in terms of bringing real security to our state and the border," she said on Tuesday.
Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs speaks at a press conference calling for abortion rights outside the Evo A. DeConcini U.S. Courthouse on October 7, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
She called out President Biden to do more.
"I've said this [before] I don’t think they are doing enough. I would love to have them visit and see firsthand the kind of support and relief that folks in this community need from the federal government," Hobbs told "CNN This Morning."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The president hasn't visited the overburdened southern border since he took office two years ago.
FEBRUARY 21: Asylum seekers from Colombia, Venzuela, and Cuba wait next to the USA border wall with Mexico, to be processed by CBP on February 21, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona, United States. (Photo by Katie McTiernan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images | Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images )
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In the border city of Yuma, the rampant illegal immigration has caused some residents to fear for their safety, even to the point of hiring armed security guards to protect their families. Yuma county supervisor, Jonathan Lines, told Fox News, "They were constantly having people come into their homes, into their yards, and they were not very respectful."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Anders Hagstrom, Bill Melugin and Megan Myers contributed to this report.