Politics

Democratic congressman says ‘no additional enforcement’ needed on Southwest border [VIDEO]

Nicholas Ballasy Senior Video Reporter
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WASHINGTON — Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke told The Daily Caller that “no additional enforcement” is needed on the Southwest border, despite the U.S.-Mexico border remaining the “primary gateway” for moving illegal drugs into the U.S.

“Because we no longer have an active metric from DHS and border security can mean different things to different people, I just want to point to the facts. The safest cities in America are along the border. The border is safer than the rest of the country,” O’Rourke told TheDC Wednesday after a Border Advocacy Day event where participants argued that no more border enforcement is necessary.

“The border is secure. We do not need additional enforcement there. What we need is the full focus and attention on passing comprehensive immigration reform.”

In February 2011, the Government Accountability Office reported that Border Patrol only had “operational control” of 44 percent of southern border. O’Rourke was referring to the Department of Homeland Security currently using “apprehensions” as opposed to “operational control” to measure border security.

“There is no warzone on the U.S. side of the border. There is no ‘spillover violence,'” O’Rourke told TheDC.

The Department of Justice reported in 2011 that “Mexican-based trafficking organizations control access to the U.S.-Mexico border, the primary gateway for moving the bulk of illicit drugs into the United States.”

DOJ assessed with “high confidence” that Mexican drug cartels “control distribution of most of the heroin, Marijuana, and methamphetamine available in the United States,” and production of these drugs in Mexico “appears to be increasing.”

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the nation’s southern border has “experienced a dramatic surge in cross-border crime and violence in recent years due to intense competition between Mexican drug cartels and criminal smuggling organizations that employ predatory tactics to realize profits.”

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Nicholas Ballasy