Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain told The Daily Caller that troops on the U.S.-Mexico border are “still needed” to deal with the “very serious problems” of “drug smuggling” and people “dying in the desert.”
TheDC asked McCain at the Capitol if he agrees with the Obama administration’s decision to reduce the number of National Guard troops on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Audio of the interview here:
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“We still have very serious problems on the border, particularly with drug smuggling,” McCain told TheDC on Wednesday in the halls of Congress. “Phoenix, Ariz., is still, according to Homeland Security, the drug distribution center for America, the price of an ounce of cocaine in the street is not any more than it was before. So, I think it’s clear they’re still needed. We still have people dying in the desert. We just last week, in Tucson, a drop house, 18 people, many of them injured and tortured.”
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona told TheDC that the National Guard troops currently on the U.S.-Mexico border have done a “tremendous job” and removing them does not make sense.
Audio of the interview here:
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“Bad idea. Bad idea,” he told TheDC on Wednesday.
“I mean they [the Obama administration] acknowledge they’ve done a tremendous job. They’ve been a big help. They’ve helped to reduce the number of illegal crossings. So just when you find something that’s working, you’re going to pull it back? I don’t think that makes a lot of sense. We’d like to have them stay there,” Kyl said.
According to the Justice Department, Mexican drug cartels are now operating in more than 1,000 U.S. cities, increasing the scope of their operations over 300 percent in just two years.
California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter predicted the administration’s proposed cuts would slash the number of troops from 264 to 14 in his state.