A summit focusing on immigration, criminal organizations and narcotics smuggling along the southern border was hosted by FOX Nation on Wednesday in Edinburg and attended by local ranchers, law enforcement, Gov. Greg Abbott, Democrat U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and Republican U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores.
An American flag hung from the interior roof of the Texas Department of Public Safety hangar where Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo and Lawrence Jones sat with local leaders. A freestanding poster prominently in the background read ‘Broken Border Crisis.’
Biden’s policies were placed under scrutiny by the conservative pundits who participated in the broadcasted summit.
And Cuellar, a border Democrat, joined them too in criticizing Biden’s handling of border issues.
“They’re forgetting it — the border communities — and that’s what’s wrong with this administration when it comes to border security. They pay attention to only the immigration activists, but that’s only one part,” Cuellar said after adding Border Patrol and locals to the list of those ignored by the administration.
Biden’s notable absence along the border was brought up several times. Abbott said he hadn’t heard from the administration on the subject, either.
“Not from the president. Not from the Border Czar, Kamala Harris,” Abbott said.
“This should not be political,” newly-elected Rep. Mayra Flores said during her opening remarks in the broadcast. However, the politics were woven into many of the comments the politicians made, including Flores who is set to face Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in the next election.
“You have Vicente Gonzalez who’s been a member of Congress for many decades — for many terms here in South Texas, and yet embraces Biden’s policies,” Flores said. “And he’s a member of Congress here in South Texas. So I think that, you know, we can no longer just speak for ourselves, we have to speak for all people here in South Texas and continue putting pressure on this administration.”
“You’re right,” Cuellar told Flores, adding, “it’s not a Democrat and Republican issue. It’s something that we need to secure. Because I’ve talked to landowners, I talked to Border Patrol, I’ve talked to a lot of folks that live here on the border and they want a secure border, no ifs, no buts.”
Cuellar is also facing a challenger in the next election, Valley native and Republican Cassy Garcia, who was endorsed by the Border Patrol union after they had backed Cuellar for several years.
“I get pushback all the time,” Cuellar said, speaking about the friction he’s encountered within his party when taking on immigration reform. “It is hard, because as Mayra said, people have to carry guns, they have to defend themselves because of what they’re seeing out there.”
Most of the speakers said they believed changing policies, or reverting to old ones under the Trump administration, was the answer to solving the ‘Broken Border Crisis.’
“It was just two years ago that we had the fewest border crossings in decades,” Abbott said accurately.
“And then when the Biden administration took over, they eliminated the four things that President Trump put in place: building the wall, the remain in Mexico policy, the Title 42 policy, as well as ending catch and release,” the governor added, though not entirely accurate.
The Biden administration did put an end to the construction of Trump’s border wall, although critics have said the government’s construction of levees appears similar to the wall.
Right after Biden’s oath of office, his administration attempted to end the Remain in Mexico policy, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, an action that was reversed by the courts. In June, the administration was advised that the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to end the program, but DHS has not officially announced its end.
Title 42, a pandemic-induced public health policy that expels migrants back to Mexico, was initiated by the Trump administration, but it remains in place and in use. It’s responsible for nearly half of all expelled migrants in the current fiscal year.
FOX Nation correspondent Griff Jenkins suggested the solution is more resources and said, “We just can’t catch them all because we don’t have the manpower and we certainly don’t have the infrastructure.”
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, contradicted that sentiment.
“What you’re going to hear a lot of people say, is they’re going to say we need more drones, we need more infrastructure, we need more manpower, we need more technology. I will tell you that we have secured that border with what we currently have right now,” Judd said.
He added, “all he has to do,” referring to Biden, “is hold people in custody pending their asylum or deportation proceedings, and people will stop coming.”
For others, the solution was to elect a new or former president.
“Reelect President Trump, put him back in office,” Tom Homan, President Donald J. Trump’s former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said.
Members of the small audience that was allowed to attend echoed the political undertones.
One man, a Valley resident, said, “They need to know that we need to get the Democrats out of office, number one.”
Democrats called the summit “grandstanding.”
“This is nothing more than Governor Abbott pandering to the extreme right three months before the general election,” Richard Gonzales, Hidalgo County Democratic chairman, said via a statement sent along with other regional leaders.
Flores’ challenger, Gonzalez, said they should “stop the political showmanship.
“Instead of shunning those seeking a better life, we welcome them and provide them with the resources needed to have their asylum claims heard,” Gonzalez added.
Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez III said his city has been a “national model for processing individuals seeking their legal right to asylum in a humane and efficient manner.”
FOX Nation has camped out in that part of the border this last year, filing stories about asylum seekers being released from ICE custody into Brownsville, a process that’s commonplace to the city.
“We will continue to do so until our leaders in Washington are able to come together on comprehensive immigration reform, which is something that the overwhelming majority of Americans support,” Mendez added.
Ramiro Garza, the mayor in Edinburg — the same city in which the summit was held — disputed the characterization of the Valley: “Despite how many want to portray us – especially those with partisan agendas – the Rio Grande Valley is a beautiful, thriving region for families and businesses alike to grow and flourish.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correctly identify FOX Nation.
