Democrat Del Rio, Texas mayor: Biden admin telling me border is 'under control'
Migrants surge into Texas community as border crisis intensifies
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The Democratic mayor of Del Rio, Texas said Wednesday that he believes that the U.S. southern border is "wide open" for illegal immigrants, despite insistence from the Biden administration claiming the opposite.
During an appearance on "Fox & Friends," Bruno Lozano reacted to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ Tuesday comment, reiterating that the "border is closed."
DHS CHIEF MAYORKAS SAYS HUNDREDS OF MIGRANT KIDS STILL COMING IN DAILY
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"I would very much disagree with that statement," Lozano said. "The way that it’s been handling or being managed—it seems to be wide open for unlawful entry into the United States."
Lozano said that he had reached out to the administration for help regarding the influx of migrants, but was told repeatedly that the border is "under control."
Pointing to statistics indicating that there was a 393% increase in border crossings in the 2021 fiscal year, Lozano said he could not understand the administration's assertion.
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The Del Rio mayor also said he found it "peculiar" that there was a different set of standards for US citizens compared to illegal immigrants regarding COVID testing.
Lozano claimed that Dr. Alex Eastman, CWMD’s Senior Medical Officer for Operations, contacted him on behalf of DHS and said that the department could no longer "legally" administer COVID-19 tests to migrants entering the country.
Eastman noted that he had plans to "collaborate" with the city of Del Rio, allowing them to conduct COVID testing on migrants on DHS’ behalf.
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During a recent NBC interview, Biden claimed that his administration had "now gotten control" of the high number of migrants surging at the southern border.
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Despite his claim, at the time more than 22,000 child migrants remained in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Just weeks before, an administration official said that when children arrive at CBP facilities they are not immediately tested even as about 10% of children eventually test positive for the virus, according to data from the HHS.
Fox News' Adam Shaw and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.