Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Newsmax on Tuesday that the record number of illegal border crossings has shifted west, a direct result of Texas taking matters into its own hands to stem the tide.
Blackburn joined "The National Report" from Eagle Pass, Texas, where the billions of dollars spent on makeshift barriers have "slowed the migration," forcing illegal crossings to increase in Arizona and California.
Ultimately, she said, it's up to President Joe Biden to reinstate, through executive action, the policies that former President Donald Trump employed to contain the southern border.
"The record encounters continue, and they're pushing further west and into Arizona because here in Texas and Eagle Pass, they decided to … put up containers, buoys, razor-wire fencing that has really slowed the migration right here at the Eagle Pass crossing," Blackburn said.
"Now, it is going to continue because Joe Biden took 94 executive actions in his first 100 days that intentionally opened the border and weakened immigration law. And what we are hearing is that as you push into Arizona, as you get into California, the crossings have increased there. And think about it, Joe Biden has had nearly 10 million illegal aliens come in the country since he took office.
"When you look at what has happened to the numbers, from Feb. 21 to today, it explains why the state of Texas said, We're willing to spend billions of dollars to do these barriers."
Blackburn is among the majority of congressional Republicans who pushed back on the notion that the key to fixing the border is more money.
"It is, indeed, a policy problem, and the policies are the changes Joe Biden has made," Blackburn said. "Under Donald Trump, you did not have this wide-open border. They had the border contained.
"Border Patrol is instructed, when somebody touches U.S. land, not when they come through the fence, but as soon as they touch the bank of the Rio Grande, you gotta let them in. What we should be doing is turning them back.
"And God bless Texas for being out here with their National Guard, for putting up these temporary barriers and containers and for securing this part of the border. Now Arizona, they need a governor that will get out there and secure their border."
As Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Newsmax last week, the barriers don't "help the overall problem, but it does help Texas."
That's why Biden needs to quit abdicating his responsibility, Blackburn said.
"Joe Biden has the authority," she said. "He needs to take an action today and say, You will not cross. You will stay in Mexico. We will not let you in."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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