Texas Democrat roasts Biden for 'avoiding' border crisis: 'Just show up!'
Cuellar claimed that if Biden 'just showed up' at the border it would send a 'strong signal' that he cares
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, urged President Joe Biden to "just show up" to the U.S.-Mexico border which he insisted is "going to be overwhelmed" with an influx of migrants once Title 42 is lifted.
In a Wednesday interview on "CNN This Morning," the representative criticized the Biden administration’s seeming lack of understanding of the current crisis at the border, stating he doesn’t believe the White House comprehends the situation.
He admitted he "doesn’t know why" Biden and his officials "keep avoiding the border."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FOX NEWS FOOTAGE SHOWS MASS RELEASE OF MIGRANTS INTO US, AS NUMBERS HIT 500,000 FOR FY 23
Rep. Cuellar appears on "CNN This Morning" and urges Biden to "just show up" to the border. (Screenshot/CNN)
The discussion between Cuellar and CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins began with her question as to how disastrous the migrant influx will be for border communities if Biden removes the Trump-era Title 42 rule.
The congressman responded bluntly, stating, "Communities are going to be overwhelmed, not only El Paso. We’ve seen that in the past with the Rio Grande Valley, we’ve seen it in Eagle Pass and Del Rio. They’re going to be overwhelmed. There are just not enough shelters and border processing centers to handle the large numbers of people."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cuellar insisted on treating migrants with compassion but was adamant that we "have to secure the border." He said, "We can do two things at the same time. We can provide a compassionate way of treating the immigrants that are trying to come in. But at the same time we have to secure the border."
He added, "Because the only thing the border control is doing is processing a lot of them to come into the U.S. and then returning some of them under Title 42. If Title 42 goes away, this is going to open up a large number of people coming to border communities."
MIGRANT CARAVAN OF MORE THAN 1,000 CROSSES ILLEGALLY INTO EL PASO, TEXAS, VIDEO SHOWS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - Haitian families cross the Rio Bravo river illegally to surrender to the American authorities at the border of Mexico's Ciudad Juarez with El Paso, Texas, Dec. 23, 2021, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Photo by Christian Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Collins then asked if the "Biden Administration understands that sense of urgency," to which Cuellar replied he doesn’t think so.
He said, "You know, I don’t think they do or if they do, they just have a very different perspective."
Cuellar urged the president to listen to people who understand the concerns of the local communities rather than just "immigration activists." He said, "Look, it’s okay to listen to immigration activists. It’s okay to do that. That’s one perspective. But who is listening to the men and women in green and blue and more importantly, who is listening to our border communities?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Later in the interview, Collins asked if it would help if Biden visited the southern border, to which Cuellar said, "Yes, absolutely."
A Border Patrol agent walks between a gap along the border wall between the US and Mexico in Yuma, Arizona on June 1, 2022. - In May, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas authorized US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to use some existing DHS appropriations to close gaps in the Yuma Sector border bollard barrier fence as migrants seeking asylum cross the border and Title 42 restrictions on immigration continue, while DHS also said in a statement it calls on Congress to cancel remaining appropriations for barrier system construction and instead fund "smart border security" measures. (Patrick T. FALLON / AFP via Getty Images)
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He continued, "I don’t know why they keep avoiding the border and saying there’s other things more important than visiting the border. If there’s a crisis, show up. Just show up!"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The lawmaker added, "Just showing up at the border would send a strong signal to the communities that he’s there, he cares about the border communities. Just show up. It doesn’t take much to just show up at the border."