RNC releases video series zeroing in on border crisis, calls Biden the ‘root cause’

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Former border chief on migrant surge at southern border: This is a scary thought

Former Border Patrol Chief Victor Manjarrez Jr. joins 'Fox & Friends' to discuss why the US is on track to hit over 1 million border apprehensions.

FIRST ON FOX: The Republican National Committee (RNC) is launching the first in a video series that zeroes in on the ongoing crisis at the southern border, and the Biden administration's handling of it -- just as numbers are rising ahead of another expected surge this summer.

The first video in the series, called "Unchecked; 2 Million" refers to the number of migrant encounters in the 2021 calendar year -- and pins the blame for the massive numbers encountered last year, which overwhelmed Border Patrol agent, on the policies of the new administration.

"Plain and simple: Joe Biden is the root cause of the pain and suffering on the border. Biden and ‘border czar’ Kamala Harris’ failures have put our law enforcement officials in harm’s way, leaving them to defend an open border with drugs, human trafficking, and crime surging," RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. "Every community is a border community under Biden, as drugs and crime move across the country."

Sept. 21, 2021: Migrants, many from Haiti, are seen at an encampment along the Del Rio International Bridge near the Rio Grande in Del Rio, Texas.  (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The Biden administration has blamed the surge, which saw multiple months of more than 200,000 encounters last year, on root causes in Central America like poverty, violence and climate change. It has also blamed the Trump administration’s ending of legal asylum pathways. But officials have warned that the root cause strategy will take time to be successful.

"But none of this is going to be just turning on a switch," Harris said in February. "It requires focus, it requires intention, it requires an investment over a period of time, which means, in the short point, is that you’re not going to see the benefit of it overnight – because the problems didn’t occur overnight."

Republicans, however, have linked the surge to the administration’s policies, including the ending of border wall construction, attempts to end the "Remain-in-Mexico policy" and restricted interior immigration enforcement.

The video includes interviews with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Ron Vitiello and Townhall journalist Julio Rosas, who have all spent time at the border, as they discuss the impact of the sky-high numbers that were seen in 2021. 

"We’re seeing a human rights catastrophe, we’re seeing a public health catastrophe, we’re seeing a crime and national security catastrophe," Cruz said.

"Every part of America has been impacted, you’ve got migrants going to every corner of the country," Gonzales said.

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"We’ve never seen two million encounters within a year’s time, it’s just never happened," Vitiello says in the video.

The video focuses specifically at the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis, who they accuse of mismanaging and downplaying the crisis. Cruz dismisses the Democratic claim that the immigration policies are humane: "They can only say that if they don’t actually look firsthand."

The video comes just as a looming decision to renew the Title 42 public health order -- which has been used by both the Trump and Biden administration’s to deport a majority of migrants due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control will decide in the coming days whether to renew the order or end it. That is raising fears, within the administration and from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, that ending the policy will lead to an even bigger spike in numbers.

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Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz on Tuesday said that the U.S. is currently on track to hit one million migrant encounters so far in Fiscal Year 2022 – and said that "every sector is busier than they were back in ‘21."

He also said that agents have encountered migrants from 157 different countries.