Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
MCALLEN, T.X. – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), visited the Mexico – United States border in McAllen, Texas, to observe the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operations along the southwest border.
“They estimate there are about 400,000 ‘got-aways’, except those are the ones they know about. They actually estimate for every one of those there are about two more. You’re talking about double the population of North Dakota just as ‘got-aways’. If you take the 1.7 million [asylum seekers], and that’s three times the population of our state. That’s what they’re dealing with down there,” said Senator Cramer. “As a midwesterner, as a conservative, as a law-and-order American who puts America first, I hear the policies of the Biden Administration and say ‘that doesn’t make sense.’ Until you consider the goals of the Biden Administration. The goals of the Biden Administration are to allow at least two million illegal immigrants into the country every year.”
The trip began with a nighttime ride-along tour of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) with a Border Patrol agent.
The next morning, Senator Cramer toured the Donna Processing Facility, a site used for families and unaccompanied minors, followed by a briefing on apprehension numbers and the need for CBP resources in the RGV and across the southwest border led by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Chief Brian Hastings. The senator also toured the Temporary Outdoor Processing Site (TOPS), an open-air processing facility.
Following the processing site tours, Senator Cramer participated in a tour and briefing on the border wall with Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David Musser to see complete, as well as incomplete, portions of the border wall, as well as the Rio Grande.
In the afternoon, Senator Cramer was briefed on the McAllen Air and Marine Branch by Director of Air and Marine Operations Rafael Cabrera, focusing on the air and maritime operations throughout the RGV. The senator was then taken on a helicopter tour for an aerial view of the situation at the border and gain insight on migrant apprehensions.
The senator also met with the South Texans’ Property Rights Association (STPRA) to discuss the issues local landowners are facing in the southwest border region. The conversation focused on the trend of illegal immigration across their properties and the work being done in the area to solve it.
Senator Cramer ended the day by delivering remarks to the CBP agents stationed at the Rio Grande Valley Sector Headquarters. The senator stressed the importance and necessity of the work the agents do, as well as his thanks to them for keeping Americans safe.
“At the end of the day, I’m a grandfather of six and a father of five. And from the bottom of my heart, speaking for my family and my constituents, thank you,” said Senator Cramer. “Never ever doubt that the vast majority of the American people agree with me on this: we love you. We love you, we thank you, and we stand with you. God bless you all.”