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Trump says Congress needs to get off their 'a—'

President Donald Trump calls on Congress to reform asylum laws.

This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," April 28, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARIA BARTIROMO, ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning everybody. I'm Maria Bartiromo. Thanks for joining us.

We're coming to you live this morning from the border with Mexico. We are coming to you from El Paso, Texas.

Today on "Sunday Morning Futures," my exclusive in-depth look at the unprecedented immigration crisis along the southern border. See how Border Patrol agents are facing this emergency head on every day, what they say needs to change in order to solve this crisis.

Plus, coming up, my exclusive interview with President Trump, new details on his plan to combat the surge in illegal immigration, close asylum loopholes and fund construction of miles of new border wall. The president is coming up.

And with both parties stuck in a bitter gridlock on Capitol Hill, I will talk with Congressman Will Hurd exclusively about his bipartisan efforts to find common ground.

Hear how one New Mexico county just a few miles from here is fighting to protect their community from illegal drug smuggling. I sit down exclusively with former Governor Susana Martinez and Otero County Board Chairman Couy Griffin.

All that coming up and a lot more right here right now, "Sunday Morning Futures," live from the southern border.

And the crisis along the southern border is only intensifying this morning. Just this week, Customs and Border Patrol saying that the number of migrants apprehended on the southwest border so far this year has surpassed the entire total from last year.

CBP recording 414,000 apprehensions so far this fiscal year. That is only since October. It compares to about 396,000, back in all of 2018. In the El Paso sector alone, agents apprehend up to 600 migrants a day. Many agents here say that there is one solution that has been effective, the law.

El Paso saw high crime rates in the 80s and 90s when there was almost no border security. But those numbers have plummeted after new fencing was installed. New bollard wall construction began last September. And the Trump administration is taking action to streamline construction, even more wall this year.

We are standing in front of the newest sections of this wall to be completed.

And joining me right now is Chief Aaron Hull. He's the Border Patrol chief for the El Paso Sector.

Chief, it's good to have you on the program. Thank you so much for being here.

AARON HULL, EL PASO BORDER PATROL SECTOR CHIEF: It's good to have you here.

BARTIROMO: Yes, to be here and actually watch the apprehensions has been incredible for me and for our viewers.

Can you assess the situation? How would you characterize, today, what's going on?

HULL: Well, we're seeing an unprecedented number of people crossing the border illegally as family units. This is something that's a relatively new phenomenon for us.

And our numbers in El Paso Sector are shooting up dramatically. El Paso Sector is comprised of the state of New Mexico and part of West Texas. It's the second largest sector on the southwest border. And our numbers, if you compared our fiscal year to date to last fiscal year to date, have gone up about 600 percent.

The majority of those are family unit aliens. And it's causing a huge resource drain, not only on our agents, but on our ability to care for these people while we're trying to secure this border.

BARTIROMO: Well, while we were standing here yesterday, at least three groups crossed the border and were apprehended. And in those groups were a lot of kids. They were all sick, coughing and sneezing, because they have been on their feet walking for three months and hitchhiking here.

So tell us about the overwhelming situation that your agents are faced with, because they're not only dealing with processing the migrants, but also caring for kids, right? They're doing all other things.

HULL: That's right.

Agents join the patrol to secure the border, to enforce the law. But, increasingly, they're being tasked with things that they never thought they would be doing, heating up baby bottles, literally changing diapers, caring for more and more sick people, because a lot of these aliens coming in are carrying contagious health conditions, things like chicken pox, scabies, tuberculosis, lice.

BARTIROMO: Yes. And so what happens then? They got to -- they're taken to the hospital. And that's all an additional cost.

HULL: Yes, ma'am.

We treat those we can with our own EMTs and paramedics. We have contract medical support that we have had to spend a lot of money to acquire. And we take a lot of them to the hospital.

We also have to deal with pregnancies and all types of medical conditions that occur when you have family unit aliens.

BARTIROMO: Well, let's go through some of the numbers, because I know 70 percent of the apprehensions are people who are coming from that Triangle of countries, right, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Why?

HULL: Well, actually, here in El Paso Sector, it's about 90 percent of our aliens are from those three countries.

Those people realize that, as long they're being apprehended by us, they're still likely to be released on their own recognizance. That's because the country, the U.S. government, as a whole, does not have the detention and removal capability to hold them in custody until their immigration hearing.

When they know that they're going to be released even though they're caught, it serves as a huge draw to enter this country illegally.

BARTIROMO: So they want to get apprehended?

HULL: Yes, they're not trying to get away. They know that we're basically -- a period of time they're going to be held in custody. Then they're going to be released and continue on to all parts of the United States.

BARTIROMO: You know, yesterday, when we were talking with some of the migrants, I asked one woman, I said, "Why are you here?"

She said, "Asylum, asylum." You know, she spoke Spanish.

And I said, "Oh, well, what -- you know, what's happening there? Do they try to hurt you?"

She said, "Well, actually, I just want to get opportunity for my daughter."

So they're seeing America as just an opportunity for their -- for their families. It's not necessarily that they're fleeing.

HULL: That's exactly right.

A lot of people refer to all of these family units as asylum seekers. But that's really not the case. Matter of fact, most of those that we encounter, when they're caught at this step in the process, they don't -- they don't indicate fear of return.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

HULL: They indicate they want better opportunity.

BARTIROMO: Chief, do you know if they are really families or not? I mean, what do we know about that? Because, I mean, there's a whole plan going on now in these countries where they're renting kids, right?

And take -- take my child, so that you can cross the border and then send the child back?

HULL: Well, that's a challenge as well, because people claim to be family units. But keep in mind these are not U.S. citizens with extensive records.

We have to coordinate with their host country sometimes to determine even if they're actually father and son, mother and daughter, those types of things. So, yes, we have seen that. We have also seen criminal aliens, such as MS-13 gang members, bring children in, thinking that we're going to allow them to be released into the U.S.

BARTIROMO: And you don't know because you don't have the biometrics of those children. I mean, are you going to start taking biometrics of these children to know if, in fact, this is a child that's been recycled over and over again?

HULL: Well, what we have realized, that we're going to have to take a closer look at it than we already have been, because the phenomenon seems to be occurring more frequently, with people claiming to be family that aren't.

BARTIROMO: Really important information.

Chief Hull, thank you so much for your service. And thanks for joining us this morning.

HULL: Thank you, Maria. Appreciate it.

BARTIROMO: We so appreciate it, Chief Aaron Hull joining us there.

Now, I joined some of the chiefs, Border Patrol agents yesterday for a ride-along to see firsthand how they're grappling with this overwhelming and unprecedented crisis. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARTIROMO: So, tell us a little about where we're going right now. What are we going to see right now? It's more than 11 miles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. It's 11.4 miles of river and land border.

This area is -- belongs to El Paso Station, which is one of the stations in the El Paso Sector. This area is probably the busiest area in the country at the moment with illegal entries and so forth.

BARTIROMO: When you say a lot of activity, what are we talking about on a daily basis?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the most part, it's single adults. Usually, for the most part, they are Cubans. Family units are some Cubans. For the most part, they are Guatemalans, El Salvadorans, Hondurenos, from Nicaragua, pretty much that Northern Triangle region.

BARTIROMO: Why so much activity from just those three countries? Is the word out that if you're coming from that region, you're going to probably be able to stay?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The word is definitely out. I mean, they have advertisements by radio. You listen to your radio on your way to work, on your way to the grocery store, and that country is advertising, if you want the American dream, we will help you out, and we will help you.

We will teach you how to get it in the United States.

So, here's -- there's Mexico on the south side, Mexican highway. They're just right across the river. And they look for an agent.

BARTIROMO: And the river is dry right now, so it's easy to get through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Correct.

BARTIROMO: Mexico is right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am. And then, of course, they run up.

BARTIROMO: Who is this running right here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a family group that has just crossed.

BARTIROMO: A family group is just crossing while we're here right here right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

OK. Just west of the (INAUDIBLE) entrance.

BARTIROMO: Where you going to go? What was your plan? Where are you going to go? Did somebody tell you in Honduras that you would be able to stay and get to Oklahoma if you crossed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "A lot of people told me."

We have another group that's coming up over here.

Basically, they walk until they find an agent and they turn themselves in.

BARTIROMO: So they want to see you right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.

BARTIROMO: They want to get apprehended.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like I say...

BARTIROMO: They want to get processed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to get processed, giving the papers. Then they go north, and they have legal papers to be wherever they are going to be at.

The cartel intended or attempted to kidnap his sisters.

Oh, no, they screamed out of fear. And, of course, afterwards, they ran.

BARTIROMO: Because the girls were screaming?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because the girls were screaming, and they ran, and they were able to prevent them from being kidnapped. They are by themselves.

BARTIROMO: How long have they been by themselves?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's 10 years of age, 10 years of age, and 8.

BARTIROMO: Ten and 8. And you have been traveling alone for how long?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. They were traveling. Their mom set them back -- set them down. She said she was going to go buy something for them to eat and never returned.

BARTIROMO: How long has she been traveling with the baby?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two months.

BARTIROMO: Two months. It took two months to get here from Ecuador?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says the baby is hungry right now because she hasn't eaten. And a result of that, then she can't produce any breast milk for her child to eat.

BARTIROMO: What danger are -- the kids are in?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Undoubtedly, man, undoubtedly, 10 years and 8 years of age.

BARTIROMO: And for two months, this infant is in her mother's arms.

So, this whole area was being controlled by the drug cartels?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BARTIROMO: And then the bollard fence went up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bollard fence went up. As a result of that, now you have children, as you see here, coming out playing.

You have families going out for walks. It's a bollard-style wall. It goes down four feet, 18-feet-high. Inside, it's literally hollow, that we put rebar in there, and then fill it up with concrete. So there's nothing hollow, but completely solid.

BARTIROMO: So the drug cartels in Mexico know exactly the border, know exactly the vulnerabilities?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BARTIROMO: And that's it. They just know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BARTIROMO: They are going to do what they do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BARTIROMO: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, of course, they are the ones that are winning this.

BARTIROMO: What do you say when you hear in the media that they are saying this administration, the border control, ICE, they are putting kids in cages, they're locking people up, these are humanitarian crises? What do you say to them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I say first I'm a father. I'm a father of two children. I go home with my head held high knowing that I don't do any of that stuff.

All I can do is do my job and do it to the best of my ability. And that's what we do as an -- agents, all of our agents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: That was one of the case supervisors here in El Paso. I want to thank him so much.

That is L.J., who really took us all along the border and showed us up close really what's going on. And it is incredible and a crisis.

We are going to take a short break.

When we come back, my exclusive interview with President Trump. He will call into the show, responding to the historic number of migrants crossing into the border -- how the White House is working to reform immigration loopholes.

That's coming up right after this.

Follow me on Twitter @MariaBartiromo, @SundayFutures.

Let us know what you would like to hear from a great lineup of guests this morning on Instagram @SundayFutures.

Stay with us, as we look ahead right now live from the El Paso border.

Back in a moment on "Sunday Morning Futures."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: Welcome back. We're coming to you live this morning from the border of El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: Joining us right now on the telephone is the president of the United States, President Donald Trump joining me right now.

And, Mr. President, thank you so much for calling in this morning.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Maria.

BARTIROMO: Well, we're on the border here.

And while we were standing here, Mr. President, we saw at least three groups -- different groups -- that crossed the border illegally and were apprehended. Why are these numbers soaring so much today?

TRUMP: Well, people are pouring up because our economy is so good.

I mean, unfortunately, it's the only bad part about what we're doing, because everybody wants a piece of it, and they're willing to come up and take the risk and this tremendous danger.

And our laws are so bad, the combination of having a great economy and having the weakest immigration laws anywhere in the world by far, and we have catch and release. And we have chain migration and a visa lottery. We have things that nobody in their right mind would have.

We're trying to get rid of them. The Democrats won't do it. Now, we need some Democrat votes. We're unanimous with the Republicans, but we need some Democrat votes. And they go out of their way to allow these people to come in.

And when you get cute, when you get tough, when you do all of these things that we have to do, we -- they end up arresting Border Patrol people. It's a disgrace to our country, what's going on, the worst immigration laws ever, incompetent. They're there for a long time.

When -- when they used to separate children, which was done during the Obama administration, with Bush, with us, with everybody, far fewer people would come. And we've been -- on a humane basis, was pretty bad.

We -- we go out and we stop the separation. The problem is, you have 10 times more people coming up with their families. It's like Disneyland now. You know, before, you'd get separated, so people would say, let's not go up.

Now you don't get separated. And, you know, while that sounds nice and all, what happens is, you have -- literally, you have 10 times more families coming up because they're not going to be separated from their children, so it turned out to be a...

BARTIROMO: That's right, yes.

TRUMP: ... disincentive that is obviously a disaster. It's a disaster. You have...

BARTIROMO: And -- and -- and...

TRUMP ... people coming up with many children and...

BARTIROMO ... we've seen it firsthand.

TRUMP Now, we know -- we know where everybody is, and we're moving people out so fast. The problem is, we have to register them, we have to bring them to court.

Another country just says, sorry, you can't come into our country, and they walk them out. In our country, you have to bring them to court.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: You have to have Perry Mason involved.

I mean, you know, it's all legal. You have lawyers standing at the border, our people, lawyers, wise guys standing at the border, signing people up.

BARTIROMO: Yes. Yes.

TRUMP: Every time they catch a cold, they try and blame Border Patrol. It's a disgrace, what's going on.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: And it -- it could be solved in -- in 15 minutes if the Democrats would give us the votes. It would be over.

BARTIROMO: Yes. Well...

TRUMP: We're building a lot of wall. We're going to have 400 miles of wall up by the end of next year. So the wall is going to be -- it's going to be great.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: It's going to be the top of the line, too. I got it done, the top of the line.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: We have got much more of my interview with President Trump coming up, as we continue on "Sunday Morning Futures."

But I want to point your attention to something happening right now live from the southern border. There is another apprehension going on right now. This is a group, as you can see, of just a few people.

As usual, there are kids here because they know that, if you have a child, you will probably be able to stay. But these people just crossed literally right now, while we're on the air. So we are covering this as it's happening.

They will now go to get processed. And, of course, then they will be told, since they are -- quote, unquote -- "a family," that they can come back. And it could be eight years, eight years. That's when they will have their hearing. And, of course, 90 percent of the people do not come back eight years later.

We will take a short break on "Sunday Morning Futures" live from the southern border with more of my interview with President Trump right now.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: Welcome back. This is "Sunday Morning Futures" live from the border which borders with Juarez, Mexico.

I spoke with President Trump exclusively on the phone a little while ago. And I asked how he's working to close these loopholes.

But before we get back to that, look at this live video that we're looking at. This is an apprehension that just happened. This is about six people with a child, crossed the border from Juarez into El Paso.

And, of course, the whole goal -- we are watching these migrants cross right now. This is actually happening live as we're sitting here, because this is a constant stream of people all day long coming here.

This is one of the most vulnerable parts of the border here, because there's a fence that went up. But the fence ends, and people know that. The word is out that if you go to this area, you will be able to get in.

And once you do get in, if you have a child, the U.S.' laws make it impossible to send you back. In fact, if you're here with a child, you are considered a family unit. So the U.S. law says that we have to, in this country, process you, take your name, try to track you, and then just let you back into the population.

And a lot of the Border Patrol people said to me, they do not stay in El Paso. They go to Boston, New York, Virginia, California, Oklahoma, Georgia. They go throughout the country, wherever they want to go.

They are hardly staying in El Paso, and they're not going to sanctuary cities either.

The president talked to me about this just a little while ago. Here is more of my interview, my exclusive, with President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: What we need is new laws that don't allow this, so when somebody comes in we say, sorry, you got to go out.

We don't need a court system. We have a court system that is -- has 900,000 cases behind it. In other words, they have a court which needs to hear 900,000 cases. How ridiculous is this?

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: This has been building up from years, for many years.

And it's just -- it's just a system that Congress can fix, Maria, and they don't get off their ass.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: And it's the Democrats.

BARTIROMO: Well...

TRUMP: They could solve it so quickly, because we're going to have all the infrastructure soon.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: I will have the wall up. I mean, by the end of the next year, most of the wall is going to be up.

Where you are, where the wall ends, that's part of the wall that we're building. In other words, where the wall ends, that's the weak spot.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: It's like water. They come through the weak spots.

BARTIROMO: That's exactly right.

TRUMP: But a lot of those are being taken care of.

BARTIROMO: So, Senator Lindsey Graham...

TRUMP: They'll all be taken care of fairly quickly, I mean, despite the fact that it's like pulling teeth dealing with the Democrats.

I have to go different routes to get money. It's lucky I'm good at doing that, as being a developer. I used to build buildings. Good times, bad times, you build buildings.

BARTIROMO: That's right.

TRUMP: And getting money in bad times, well, this is -- this is great times, but getting money for a wall -- they give me money for anything I want, but as long as it has the word wall, they don't want to do it.

BARTIROMO: So, when do they expect that?

TRUMP: But I have the money. I'm building the wall.

BARTIROMO: Yes, exactly, exactly.

TRUMP: And, frankly, if they would change the laws, it would be a whole different scene down there. It could happen so quickly.

(CROSSTALK)

BARTIROMO: So, realistically, Mr. President, when would you expect that?

Because Senator Lindsey Graham came on this show two weeks ago and said, look, I'm going to come back from recess, I'm going to put together a package, I'm going to work with the president to change these loopholes and change the immigration law.

Do you see that happening in 2019?

TRUMP: Yes. Yes, Lindsey's been great. We have a package of things that we're asking for, and we're actually going for a much bigger package than - - rather than those little things, which are not little at all in terms of their importance, but we're making a plan where we really talk about immigration laws on a much larger scale.

And we also have a plan for people coming in, because, you know, we have so many companies coming into the United States because of my plan and because of our tax cuts and the tax plan. It's called really tax cut and jobs plan.

We have so many companies. You know it better than anybody. You cover it better than anybody. You saw the numbers yesterday, 3.2 percent GDP.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: Nobody believed them. Even you were surprised. I'm so disappointed in you. You were surprised.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: You just don't know me well enough yet, I guess, but one of those - - but we have such great numbers, and we have companies pouring in.

BARTIROMO: No, it's -- yes.

TRUMP: The problem is, we need workers.

And we're doing a plan based on merit, where people come in, Maria, based on merit, so they can help us. They have skills. They have talent. We have people coming in under these crazy laws that -- I mean, if they need welfare or if they need handouts for the next 50 years, they -- they're almost incentivized.

Those are the people that we're supposed to be taking. And we take as few as possible of them, I will tell you.

BARTIROMO: Well, that's exactly right. Yes.

TRUMP: But the way the laws are, it's brutal.

And they start arresting Border Patrol people, and these incredible people that are doing such a good job, if they want to do anything and if they want to be a little bit cute. It is really a disaster.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: Whoever approved this stuff...

BARTIROMO: I...

TRUMP: ... had no common sense or they hated our country, one or the other.

BARTIROMO: Mr. President, I know you have to run.

But, you know, all of the 2020 contenders who want to run against you in 2020, you haven't heard a peep out of them about this. Beto O'Rourke is actually from El Paso. I don't know what he's done about this problem. And then, of course, you've got Bernie, and now you've got Joe Biden. They're not characterizing this as a crisis, sir.

TRUMP: So, Beto O'Rourke wants to take down the wall, so that means he's finished. I mean, he was finished two weeks ago, when he started saying certain very stupid things. Beto O'Rourke has been exposed.

I think Biden has been exposed. I don't know what the hell happened to Biden. I never saw that before. I -- I don't know. It just doesn't look like the same Biden. I said, is that really Joe Biden? He doesn't look the same to me.

I've known him for a long time. I've seen him for a long time. I said, what happened to him? So he's -- he's been exposed because he's very weak. He doesn't want to talk about this.

No, but they don't want to talk about this.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: It's -- I don't -- I don't get what their plan is. Do they want to let people in that shouldn't be here? Because we have people that are trying to get in that shouldn't be here.

And think of the word apprehend. The border security is apprehending 100,000 people a month. Do you know how many people that is? It's incredible, the job they do.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP: The problem is with these laws. We should be able to take them right out. We can't. We have to bring them into a court. Whoever heard of that?

BARTIROMO: I know. Yes.

TRUMP: We're the only country in the world that I know of that has a courts system. And it's a -- it's a mobile court system.

I mean, it is on the border. And with all of these cases, 900,000 cases, you need to do 900,000 -- you'd need 100,000 lawyers. I mean, it's the craziest thing you've ever seen.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: My thanks to President Trump for weighing in on this important issue.

As we're sitting here, more apprehensions are taking place.

A young -- a little boy ran across the border first. And he told agents that he was held at -- with -- by knife by we don't know who. We're guessing it's drug lords or cartels in Mexico. He said that he was being held by knifepoint.

He ran across first and then all of these people followed. This is another apprehension taking place right now.

We're going to take a short break. When we come back, we're going to get Congress' reaction.

Congressman Will Hurd will react to what the president said, how he's reaching across the aisle to fight illegal immigration.

All of that and more, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures" live this morning from the southern border.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: Ninety percent of the people who apply for asylum never make it, so the standard needs to change. We have a court decision called the Flores decision that says you can only hold a minor child 20 days.

If a family comes here with a minor child, we release the entire family after 20 days, because we don't have bed space. So we need to change that decision.

And, also, we have a quirk in our law that, if you're from Central America, you cannot be sent back home as a minor child because of the law on the books that prohibits sending children back from nine contiguous countries.

So the only place that we can send a child back to is Mexico and Canada. We need to be sending these kids back to Central America, where they come from.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: And welcome back to "Sunday Morning Futures" live this morning from the southern border.

That was Senator Lindsey Graham on this program just two weeks ago highlighting the need to reform the nation's asylum laws.

You also just heard from the president, President Trump calling on Congress to close these loopholes.

Texas Congressman Will Hurd joins me now. He is in Washington. His district covers more of the border than any other member of Congress.

And, Congressman, thanks for the courage and leadership to come on this program today, when we are basically showing right up front and personal what is going on here.

Why can't Congress change these laws?

REP. WILL HURD, R-TX: Well, Maria, one, I'm glad you're there and you're showing what's happening along the border. It is indeed a crisis.

We all know, last month, 103,000 people came here illegally. To give your viewers some context for that number, all of last year, it was 400,000 people that came in.

And I really appreciate you highlighting what the actual Border Patrol agents are dealing with and how they are handling their job with care. They often get vilified in the news and in their communities for what they're doing. But they are trying to protect our borders. But they are also treating people kindly.

This is a multifactorial problem, right? And, yes, there are some things Congress can do. There are also some things that we can fix right now within DHS.

We also got to be addressing root causes. The root causes, the reason the majority of these people are coming from the Northern Triangle -- that's El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras -- is because of violence and lack of economic opportunities there.

You know my background. I spent nine-and-a-half years as an undercover officer in the CIA. My hope is we should stop this problem before it actually gets to our doorstep. We should be increasing the amount of intelligence on those kingpin human smugglers that are bringing people here.

It is very hard to get from Tegucigalpa to El Paso. And the people that are that are facilitating this travel...

BARTIROMO: Yes.

HURD: ... the reason we're seeing more people coming is because the kingpin smugglers are learning how to do this even better, right?

So we need to be collecting intelligence on them, stopping it working with those agencies there. I think there should be a special representative in the State Department that works with the Northern Triangle.

This is -- would be a senior ambassador that works -- this is a problem not just for the U.S. and Mexico. This is a problem for all of the Western Hemisphere. Where is the Organization of American States? Where is the International Development Bank on helping us solve these problems.

These are things that we can be doing there. On the ground, right, you're seeing...

BARTIROMO: Yes, but -- yes.

HURD: You're seeing the impact that these Border Patrol agents have.

And Lindsey Graham, in his earlier statement, showed how it's only 90 percent -- 10 percent -- 10 percent to 14 percent of people that apply for asylum only actually get asylum. But we shouldn't be treating everybody who shows up at the border as an asylum seeker.

BARTIROMO: That's right.

HURD: All of them are not claiming credible fear.

Why are the men and women in Border Patrol and ICE being told to handle everybody as if they are an asylum seeker? They need to have something called expedited removal.

And if you trying to sneak in our country, you should be -- and you have three opportunities to apply for asylum, that is -- your motivations are not pure.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

HURD: And you should be deported immediately.

These are some of the tweaks that could happen right now to make sure the men and women in Border Patrol and ICE and CBP have -- are able to continue to do their jobs.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

But, Congressman, just to be clear, and with all due respect, people are blaming you and your colleagues.  HURD: Sure.

BARTIROMO: I mean, I spoke with the mayor of El Paso yesterday...

HURD: Yes.

BARTIROMO: ... the Border Patrol agents.

They need a change in these laws, so that all of these people wouldn't be coming here saying, yes, I'm seeking political asylum.

A woman I spoke with yesterday said, well, I really just want really better opportunities for my daughter, so I decided to come.

HURD: Right.

BARTIROMO: Why not go the legal way? We have a structure in place to come to this country...

HURD: Sure.

BARTIROMO: ... and become an American citizen legally.

But, instead, they are doing it and sneaking through.

HURD: Well, Maria...

BARTIROMO: And people are blaming you and your colleagues.

HURD: Right. Right.

BARTIROMO: What are you going to do about it?

HURD: Well, like I said, I have legislation that's already out there to help make sure Border Patrol is getting paid.

I have proposed legislation on dealing with the asylum fix. This is something that Speaker Pelosi is going to have to bring to the floor to get changed.

But there are things that can happen right now. Why did Border Patrol spend 78,000 man hours in hospitals, right, dealing with people?

BARTIROMO: Yes.

HURD: They should be able to use private subcontractors to do that.

I don't want a Border Patrol officer changing a diaper or making a sandwich. I want them actually on the border. And so for every time you see those people that are getting apprehended and basically surrendering to Border Patrol, how many people are sneaking in because our resources are overwhelmed?

I want to make sure that we're not pulling customs officers off the bridge, so that they can facilitate the movement of good traffic back and forth through this country. So, yes, I think there should be an asylum fix.

And that's something...

BARTIROMO: Yes.

HURD: Again, if you have three opportunities to do it, you shouldn't.

And so this is something that there's plenty of us that are trying to work towards this. But, ultimately, it's not our decision. This is going to be the decision of Speaker Pelosi to bring something to the floor to tweak some of those pieces.

BARTIROMO: Well, yes, I think you make a really good point.

By the way, on the idea of food, making a sandwich, when I spoke with some of the migrants yesterday, the last time they ate was a day-and-a-half ago. I mean, they haven't eaten anything.

HURD: Sure.

BARTIROMO: They need everything. They are putting their kids in such an incredibly dangerous situation by having their kids cross.

You mentioned Nancy Pelosi. All we hear out of the Democrats is they want President Trump's tax returns. They want to investigate more on the Mueller report.

HURD: Sure.

BARTIROMO: All this stuff. And you don't hear a peep out of them about the crisis going on at the border.

Next week, you have got William Barr testifying in front of the Judiciary. What's the most important question you're going to ask? Is it all about the Mueller report? What are you expecting to hear from William Barr, real quick?

HURD: Well, what do we expect from William Barr?

I think we have seen it. He's going to give the full unredacted report to Judiciary and the Intelligence Committees. I'm on the Intelligence Committee. I will hear what he has to say.

What I want to be seeing is, how are we developing a counter-disinformation strategy to deal with the Russians, right?

We know -- this is in agreement between Republicans and Democrats. The Russians tried to influence our elections. We're seeing them doing that in other places. But what are we doing in order to try to stop that?

But I agree with you, Maria -- 103,000 people coming into our country illegally almost every month is a real crisis. It's a real problem. We should be -- these are some of -- this is the conversation we should be having up here in Washington, D.C., right now.

BARTIROMO: Yes. We're not hearing about it.

And now we see that immigration is becoming -- very fast becoming the number one issue for the American people going into 2020. We're going to be watching you and your colleagues to see what's done about this, because this is truly horrible, to see these children, the way that they are being treated by their families, forcing them over the border illegally.

(CROSSTALK)

HURD: Right.

BARTIROMO: Real quick, sir. We got to jump. Go ahead.

HURD: Maria, I'm down there almost every weekend. I'm almost down there every weekend seeing this.

And the tax this is adding, the impact this is having on the men and women that are trying to keep us safe, we have to factor that in too as well.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

All right. All right, we will be watching.

Will Hurd, thank you so much, Congressman. We will see you soon.

More live from the southern border when we come right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: Welcome back to "Sunday Morning Futures" live this morning from the border with Mexico here in El Paso, Texas, just a few miles away from Otero County, New Mexico.

Border Patrol was forced to close highway checkpoints last month after agents were reassigned to help process the influx of migrants. The county is so alarmed about the flow of illegal drugs, they have now declared a state of emergency.

Joining me right now is the Otero County Board of Commissioners chairman, Couy Griffin, and former New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez.

Great to see you both. Thank you so much for joining us.

COUY GRIFFIN, CHAIRMAN, OTERO COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: Thank you very much for having us.

BARTIROMO: You just declared a state of emergency. Tell me what happened?

GRIFFIN: That's correct.

We have just been getting impacted by this situation that you all are seeing down here. And in Otero County, we just came to a point where we had to try to declare a state of emergency because we are being impacted by what we're seeing.

BARTIROMO: And did that help any, the state of emergency? What has that done?

GRIFFIN: We have had no response from our governor.

Earlier in the year, our governor declared that there is no crisis on the border, there's nothing to see here. Here, she withdrew our National Guard, which Governor Martinez had put on the border before it was escalated to this, to the way it is now.

So she reached -- after she made the statement there's no crisis here, she retracted our National Guard, and she went back to Santa Fe, and we're left with what you're seeing.

BARTIROMO: And, Governor, you have put the National Guard there in place. The president wants to send boots on the ground here because it's getting violent.

There was a story the other day that there was a shoot-out right here. Tell me what you saw then and how things have changed.

SUSANA MARTINEZ, R-N.M., FORMER GOVERNOR: You know, when I put the National Guard on the border, it was to help the Border Patrol, so that they weren't inside a shop, fixing cars, changing tires, changing oil, monitoring screens, that they were actually boots on the ground out capturing people, as they are doing, and as you have seen today, and seeing every single day in the last couple of years.

So they were able to assist. They cannot enforce immigration laws, but they can assist the Border Patrol to do their job. However, when you have checkpoints that are being closed because they are having to pull all Border Patrol to the actual border itself, you're having drug traffickers that are going through the checkpoints, passing right by because no one is manning those checkpoints.

BARTIROMO: And not only that, but you have got this overwhelming situation within the areas that you're trying to detain people, right?

And the Democrats told the president, we don't want any more beds. We're done. You have got what you have got.

But they're busting open. There's no more capacity.

MARTINEZ: There is no more capacity anymore.

I mean, really, they're giving them to the local communities, Las Cruces, Otero County. They're giving it to Yuma, here in El Paso.

At one point, they're having to bus them to other locations that can absorb them. Just, it's impossible.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: We haven't received any in Otero County.

And I'm going to push very hard for my constituents to not receive any. We have a resolution that we're going to pass where we don't receive any illegals.

But the hypocrisy in what is going on today, Maria, is Santa Fe, which declares themselves to be a sanctuary county, their mayor recently said, we don't want them here. They are not going to receive them in Santa Fe County, but yet they say, we will raise the funds so you all can put them in your backyards.

My position, if you are going to declare yourself a sanctuary county, put them on the plaza at Sante Fe and let them live there.

BARTIROMO: Well, that's the thing. They say they are sanctuary, and then they are talking about how the Border Patrol agents are mistreating children, as if there's something that the Border Patrol agents are doing to these kids.

It's a very sad situation. They need our help, but the U.S. wants to help with illegal immigration situations.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

And one thing that makes my blood really boil is whenever our representatives come down and throw our Border Patrol under the bus.

BARTIROMO: All right, quick break, more with Governor Martinez and Chairman Griffin on "Sunday Morning Futures" live from the border when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARTIROMO: Welcome back.

I'm back with Susana Martinez and Couy Griffin.

And I want to ask you, Governor, about the sanctuary cities.

You mentioned sanctuary cities, Couy.

What are they doing in these so-called sanctuary cities to protect people who break the law?

MARTINEZ: You know, that's the other side of the coin of a sanctuary city, is that if someone who is here illegally and says -- holds up a store, a convenience store, with a gun, armed robbery, police capture that individual, put him in jail.

They may say, I don't have the money to post the bond, and they could be released into that community without posting a bond, but they're not cooperating with federal officials, ICE, Border Patrol, anyone, to determine if they are here illegally.

And there should be a hold on that person, so they are being released into the community, knowing that there are these heavy charges against them, any criminal charges. You should not be in this country illegally or legally committing crimes without paying consequences for that.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

Meanwhile, when the president said, I'm going to release the illegals into the sanctuary cities, they said no, no, no, no, not in my backyard.

GRIFFIN: Yes, hypocrites.

BARTIROMO: But this is really pulling at my heartstrings. It pulls at all of our heartstrings, because America wants to let in and help as many people as possible across the world.

But there is a cost to that.

GRIFFIN: And the problem is, right now, in New Mexico, we're not taking care of our own.

New Mexico right now leads the United States in child poverty. One-third of our Native Americans live at or below the poverty level. Our city Albuquerque, New Mexico, leaves the nation in auto theft. We have got so many systematic problems in New Mexico. And we're not taking care of our own people.

And then we think -- we're so prideful, we think we can take care of everybody else. It's crazy. We need to take care of our own people first.

BARTIROMO: So, what are the costs of taking in -- or having these illegals come in and then they're just let out into the population?

What are we paying for?

GRIFFIN: They go directly on to our food bill, if you will.

Recently, Las Cruces, New Mexico allocated $500,000 to support illegals. Meanwhile, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, there's little old ladies that are living on $700 a month in their Social Security checks and can't even afford to even pay their gas bill.

BARTIROMO: Yes.

GRIFFIN: But we're going to allocate $500,000 to people that come into our country and break the law right off the bat, but we're not going to take care of our own?

BARTIROMO: Not to mention the fact that the mothers are putting their kids in incredibly dangerous situations.

GRIFFIN: Absolutely.

MARTINEZ: And that's the one thing.

I used to specialize in the prosecution of cases where they injured children. And that child -- moms bringing their children on birth control?

BARTIROMO: Yes.

MARTINEZ: What is anticipated?

BARTIROMO: All right, we will leave it there.

Great to have you both. Thank you so much.

GRIFFIN: Thank you very much for having us.

BARTIROMO: And it has been an informative hour.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive here in El Paso. It really was an education.

That will do it for "Sunday Morning Futures." I will have more tomorrow from the southern border, as well as the Milken Conference, when I'm on "Mornings With Maria" on FOX Business.

See you then, everybody.

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