Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) has claimed the ongoing immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border is impacting President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.
The Democrat said he has not spoken to President Biden regarding the border crisis and immigration issue since January, when President Biden visited the U.S.–Mexico border.
He noted there have been roughly 5.8 million encounters at the border since President Biden took office, not including “gotaways”—illegal immigrants who were spotted by agents or captured on camera but have not been caught or processed by officials—as indicated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Asked whether the ongoing crisis is “hurting” President Biden’s campaign, Mr. Cuellar said it “absolutely” is.
“My district is about 80 percent Hispanic Democratic and guess what? When I go to church or when I go to the store, what are people telling me?” Mr. Cuellar said. “Henry, you got to secure the border. We got to do something,” he added.
'Repercussions’ Needed at Border
However, currently, the United States is seeing “too many people jump the line” which is causing “resentment” to build up among Hispanic and Democratic voters, he said.“There’s a resentment … growing among Hispanics and Democrats because they followed the law and now we’re seeing people just jump the line and end up in New York and other places,” Mr. Cuellar said.
The Texas Democrat later went on to state that there have to be “repercussions” at the border, noting that former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson had used Title 8 immigration law to deter illegal immigration.
Under Title 8, people who cross the border illegally can be processed under expedited removal and banned from seeking reentry to the United States for five years.
“You’ve got to know how to use Title 8—that is you detain eight people, don’t let them in and then you deport people, and you show videos,” Mr. Cuellar said. “All we do is see people coming in but we don’t see any messages of people or videos of people going back.”
“We’re just not enforcing the laws we have on the books right now,” he concluded.
Americans Are ‘Frustrated’
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, following Tuesday’s interview, Mr. Cuellar also noted that Mexico must also “immediately do two things” to address the crisis at the border: quickly remove migrants from trains, which he said is “extremely dangerous and seriously affecting legitimate trade,” and send migrants back to south Mexico or their home nations.“When not returned south, migrants will only keep attempting to reach the U.S. border, often in increasingly desperate attempts that risk their own safety,” the lawmaker said.
“While Mexico is deploying federal resources, they must do more to address the joint border crisis,” he added.
Mr. Cuellar’s comments come after one of President Biden’s reelection campaign co-chairs, Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), also expressed fears that the situation at the southern border could impact Democrats’ reelection bid.
“They want to see the government manage situations,” she told the publication. “The fundamental problem is people want an easy fix. This is neither an easy issue, nor is there an easy fix,” she continued.
Ms. Escobar noted it is the current administration’s “job” to manage the situation and acknowledged that, “We have failed over and over again.”
“I do worry that Democrats will get blamed simply because the president is in the White House,” she added. “I hope not, but I’m afraid of that.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.
