When Title 42 is lifted by President Joe Biden's administration Thursday, the Lone Star State is expected to see 70,000 migrants a week. The public health order was invoked by the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control in the early stages of the pandemic to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Hot spots along the Texas-Mexico border, such as El Paso, are preparing to be flooded with migrants currently lined up just across the border. U.S. Congressman Randy Weber (R-Texas) told Washington Watch on Monday that figure amounts to a dozen extra school districts, not just schools.
"It is [the equivalent of] 12 complete school districts a month that somebody has to pay to educate. Not to mention drugs, not to mention the terrorists who come across, 80 captured that we know about, all the fentanyl. You can't make this stuff up – and the Biden administration is totally, solely responsible for this," Weber said.
El Paso is in crisis mode, its officials trying to prepare for problems they can't currently envision.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Monday he is deploying a new "tactical border force" of elite National Guard troops to "repel" illegal immigrants. Weber stands behind his governor, who is hearing complaints from the Left.
"He's doing great. He's sending immigrants to other cities, and you're actually seeing mayors from other cities saying, 'Stop the flow, stop the flow. We can't do this anymore.' I'm like, 'Really?' New York City, just name the city, Washington, DC, wherever, let's say they got five busloads, and they got 500 or 1,000 illegals, and Texas has almost two-thirds of the United States border with Mexico. We're getting tens of thousands a day projected, and they're worried about 500 here, 500 there. They're learning what it is to be a border city," Weber said.
Arizona sheriff blames Biden for border crime
Earlier this year officials in both Texas and Arizona were trying to get a handle on crime at the border. Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Arizona blamed Biden for what he called the largest crime scene in the country. And Sheriff Brad Coe, of the Texas border county of Kinney, appeared on Capitol Hill in March and told a House committee hearing his county was under siege by illegal aliens and smugglers.
Even with the looming end of Title 42, Border Patrol agents in El Paso are concerned about illegal crossings and the safety hazards they create.
Weber says leaving in place the policies of former President Donald Trump would have avoided a situation for which he now blames Biden alone.
"He [Biden] hung out the 'open for business' sign from Day 1. We don't have operational control of the border. Quite frankly if you look back on it, all President Biden had to do about border control was zero for the time being. Leave President Trump's policies intact. Make them stay over there across the border if they want to apply for asylum," he said.
In theory, the U.S. grants asylum if a foreign national has faced persecution in one of five ways: race, religion, nationality, a particular social group or a political opinion. Weber argued the U.S. would benefit by vetting asylum seekers with the countries they're leaving.
"Asylum is supposed to be either you're persecuted by your government, for your race or religion or for belonging to an ethnic group. You can ask for asylum in the United States. Make those embassies in those countries – El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Venezuela, whoever it is – make them do the research on whether someone is being persecuted because they know those areas down there. We don't know those areas down there."
Biden's 'meager' effort panned
The Biden administration announced a plan in April to expand legal immigration. In a related move, Biden announced last week he would be sending 1,500 troops to the border, primarily to serve in administrative and transport roles. Those troops will be armed for self-defense but will not assist state and local law enforcement.
"Now you're hearing about Biden sending troops down there. Vice President Kamala Harris, when Trump sent troops down there – oh man, she started crying the blues," Weber said. "Now they're going to send a meager 1,500 troops."
Harris said Trump's use of troops in 2018 was based on a political agenda.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) recently took Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to task over the state of the border. He asked Mayorkas to assign a letter grade on border security. When Mayorkas dodged the question, Romney assigned the grade: an F.
"As you know, there's a move to impeach [Mayorkas] because he's not protecting America or protecting our borders," Weber stated. "I don't know how they can say these things with a straight face."
There is active legislation in the U.S. House that seeks more funding for Border Patrol agents.
