Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, after hosting a border solutions summit in Tuscon, Arizona, this past week said Saturday on Newsmax that the nation's border security is one of the most important issues facing the United States and more solutions are needed.
"We had law enforcement there, but community leaders as well," said Hutchinson, also a former Drug Enforcement Agency administrator, on Newsmax's "America Right Now." "There's a couple of things that are important solutions. First of all, we have to have asylum reform — right now. We have 1.5 million asylum cases pending, which means they're released and they might not show up."
That's because those people are not being adjudicated appropriately, and it should be done through ports of entry, said Hutchinson.
"Secondly, you've got to look at these that come in and claim asylum," said Hutchinson. "They're transiting through Mexico. Under international law, they can go to the first safe harbor, and they do not have to go through a transit country. And so that's one thing that needs to be looked at."
Further, the wall is a protective measure; but it must be backed up with Border Patrol resources and technology, said Hutchinson.
"Finally, we have to go after the cartels," he said. "We've got to dismantle them. That's why they ought to be designated a foreign terrorist organization. It's very critical to give us the resources, the ammunition that we need to take them on."
Meanwhile, the border policies under President Joe Biden have been "devastating." And the United States has far less control over the border than it did a decade or two decades ago, said Hutchinson.
In addition, Mexico has taken a "very soft approach" with the cartels, which gives them more control, he said.
"When I was head of the DEA, we cooperated with then-[Mexican] President Vicente Fox and his administration; and we went after the Tijuana cartel, and we dismantled that organization," Hutchinson said. "Secondly, you've had the Biden policies of basically an open border that now he's trying to change, thank goodness; but it's so late. He sent the wrong message and has given the cartels more strength."
Meanwhile, there has been a great deal of speculation about whether Hutchinson will seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. On Saturday, he said that he'll make a final decision — "probably in the second quarter" of this year — about whether he'll be in the race.
"We've been in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina," he said. "I'll be returning to those states. We're focusing on solutions illustrated by the Border Security Solutions Summit.
"But at the right time we will make a final decision about the announcement," he said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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