Babin: 'Border is in worse shape than it ever has been'

U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) said the U.S.-Mexico border crisis is getting worse, and that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are not helping. 

Babin spoke Monday in an interview with Texas Public Policy Foundation Chief Executive Officer Kevin Roberts. It was streamed live on several platforms and is still available for viewing. The GOP congressman, who represents nine counties in southeast Texas, said the situation is indeed dire.

“And I can tell you that this border is in worse shape than it ever has been. The numbers are staggering,” he said. “The challenges that we're seeing down there are unprecedented in history. The worst we have ever seen. We are hearing reports that the Biden administration, in fact, its chief of staff, Ron Klain, said things are getting under control. Nothing could be further from the truth than that statement. It is a worsening crisis.”

Kevin Roberts of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. | Texas Public Policy Foundation

Babin, from Woodville, represents the state’s 36th District in Congress and is in his fourth term. He has long been a critic of U.S. policy at the border, and is the co-chairman of the House border security caucus. He has led several tours of the border, showing the problems to fellow members of Congress. He told Roberts they spent much time listening to people who live and work on the border.

“I'm glad you mentioned property owners, because those are the very ones who are being so just badly impacted by this absolute crisis,” he said. “We talk to stakeholders such as county sheriffs, we talk to policemen. We talked to some of the local elected officials as well. It was worse than we anticipated because the mainstream media, let's face it, is not really reporting the truth about what is ongoing down there.”

Babin said it’s important to tell his story and share it with the public.

“We have to message the truth and we cannot allow the American people to stay in ignorance because of the threat on the border from all aspects, whether it be public health or terrorism, because they're catching people," he said. "They're on the terrorist watch list down there from over 100 different countries. We have to educate." 

He said while his district is several hundreds of miles from the southern border, it is far from immune.

“We are impacted greatly by the crisis on the border,” Babin said. “Every state is considered now a border state with a crisis that's ongoing.”

He said states can push back by stationing National Guard troops on the border and by strictly enforcing existing laws.

“I've interviewed and talked and visited with a lot of these great men and women that are down there,” Babin said. “They're doing a fantastic job, but we need to have teeth. We've got to be able to make arrests. We've got to be able to hold these people and we've got to be able to have them deported or held until the federal government finally does their job.

“Of course, we have over a million people (who) have already had their day in court found to have bogus reasons for being here and even having criminal activity or criminal records and convictions on their records. And they're supposed to be being deported and the administration simply will not do it. I think it's time for the states to take up the slack and start enforcing it.”

Babin said he talked with Ken Cuccinelli, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security during the Trump administration, who said the states have much more authority and power than people realize.

“And I'm hoping he's also in conversations with the attorney general of our great state and also with our governor's office so that they can do some things to turn some of these folks back, keep us safe,” Babin said. “There are many people looking for a better quality of life. Many are fleeing crime. But many of them have bad intentions for America. And in order to come here and seek asylum, you also have to have a valid asylum claim. And most, up to 90% of these asylum claims, are bogus and fictitious."

He added, “When they do go before an immigration court, most of those are turned down and rejected and they're supposed to be deported. Well, all deportations have been seized by the Obama administration in terms of the interior enforcement has been abolished. We're now letting them come in. And once they come in, they're going to be here to stay.”

Babin said former President Donald Trump was on the right path.

“The reality is the border had been fixed for all intents and purposes as recently as a year ago,” he said. “And the current administration, I think, is really contributing mightily to the reigniting of illegal crossings.”

Babin said Trump was criticized by Democrats and the mainstream media about children in cages and chaos at the border during his administration but recent developments overshadow those concerns.

“And what we saw down there are some of the CBP facilities were just ... they were just mind-blowing,” he said.

Babin said a facility at Donna, Texas, was designed to hold 250 unaccompanied minors.

“There were 5,700 kids in that facility,” he said. “As we speak there's over 20,000 unaccompanied minors in custody, either in the Customs and Border Protection facilities or in HHS (Health and Human Services) facilities.

He said Vice President Harris has not stepped up.

“She was given the role of czar of the border security of this country by the president," Babin said. "Quite frankly, my colleague Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and I, [who have] led the last delegation of Texas members down to the border, sent a letter to Vice President Harris inviting her to meet us down there, at least at some point on our itinerary.”

He said they met with the Coast Guard, the DEA, Customs and Border Protection, Border Security, Border Patrol agents, sheriffs and other officials.

“And we wanted Vice President Harris, if she's the czar of border security, should be there listening to people,” Babin said. “She shown no inclination to come. “In fact, when she was asked a couple of months ago whether she had a plan to go down to the border, she just simply cackled and laughed and said that she had no plans to come,” he said. “And it's appalling to me that this administration was just so flippantly, you know, just not call this the crisis that it is not want to see what's going on." 

Critics say drug smuggling is rampant. Fentanyl, “probably the most dangerous illicit drug that the American public faces today,” is coming across at 233% increase since Biden took office, Babin noted.

This is happening at a time when 70,000 Americans die of overdoses each year, according to a March 4, 2020, report, from the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement.

“Directly responsible for the human carnage from drug overdoses are organized gangs from Mexico, Central and South America and China,” the report states. “Drug poisoning killed more than 70,000 Americans in 2017, which is steep when compared with the more than 47,000 deaths from suicide, 19,500 from homicide, 39,000 from firearms and 40,000 in auto crashes that year [when Trump was president].”

Babin said there also are problems with human trafficking, sex trafficking or “really indentured servitude” at the border.

“The cartels are making millions of dollars per day,” he said. “Everybody that comes across that border pays. They're either paying the cartels or working for the cartels. If you don't pay the cartels and you come into the United States, you can wind up dead. We've seen things such as rape trees, dead bodies being found. Many [officials], ranchers and landowners have found dead people there. 

“We see on a daily basis these [Border Patrol] heroes going out into the water of the Rio Grande and going out into the desert and saving children, women and people who are destitute and lost,” Babin said. “I just don't know how many more kids, little toddlers, 3- and 5-year-olds that the Biden administration needs to see tossed over a 14-foot wall before they decide this is something they need to take care of. 

Babin said he also is concerned about the spread of the coronavirus at the border.

“As a health care practitioner – I practiced dentistry for nearly 40 years – I can tell you that having some knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus, most children do not exhibit any manifestations, any symptoms,” he said. “The policy down there in a facility was to only test for COVID on those children who are exhibiting symptoms. Well, most kids, they may be carrying it and passing it along, but they don't have the symptoms. 

“There's so many of these individuals, and not only the kids, but the adults are being released into the United States with COVID positive tests, Babin added. "And at a time when the administration is still forcing people to stay home, 60% of children in this country do not go back, they haven't gone back to school. “They're still having to mask and social distance and they're releasing COVID-positive illegal immigrants at the border and to fan out across this country." 

Babin said he believes Democrats want undocumented people to move into the U.S. and join their ranks.

“They have the grand strategy, I think, the Democratic Party,” he said. “We've suspected it for years. They would like to see a large portion of the American electorate replaced by illegal immigrants who then get enfranchised to cast votes. That's what HR 1, the first bill that [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi introduced to basically take over our election process. They want these illegal immigrants to be voters. They know they were overwhelmingly voting for Democrats.

“Immigration is one of the key cogs in that machine that they are trying to control, to gain control of this country on a permanent basis,” Babin said. “And I hate to say that but it is absolutely true. There's no other explanation than that some of the inexplicable things that are happening on our border and the dangerous things, the sanctuary cities.”

He said despite all the challenges, he is hopeful that Republicans will regain control of government and face up to the border issues and deal with other problems.

“I'm optimistic. We're going to see a great change in ‘22,” Babin said. “And I think the American people need to just continue in prayer, continue passing the message from one to the next and get this great revival starting in our nation.”