Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar said Wednesday on multiple cable networks he’s “been warning” President Joe Biden’s administration to be more “clear and concise” on their rhetoric concerning the border crisis.
After an earlier appearance on Fox News, Cuellar appeared on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily” and reiterated his stance to host Chuck Todd that the Biden administration should “better” it’s message and say to migrants, “don’t come in here illegally.” (RELATED: MSNBC Host Blasts Biden’s Media Blackout At Border: ‘If It Had Been The Trump Administration We Would Be Rightly Outraged’)
Todd began by noting Cuellar has “been a bit critical of the administration” over the border crisis, and asked him what he would like to see the Biden administration do differently.
Cuellar said he has been “calling the White House” since the week of Biden’s inauguration, describing “what’s happening on the ground.” He explained he doesn’t “just go visit the border,” but lives there. “I’m seeing the numbers,” he said.
“I’ve been warning the administration … You can’t say ‘don’t come now, come later.’ That’s a bad message. It’s got to be clear and concise. Don’t come in here illegally. That should be the message,” he continued.
Cuellar went on to say “networks of friends and family” drive attempts to cross the border illegally because people who do it successfully encourage others to do it, too. He then explained that “criminal organizations” that drive illegal crossings charge a high price, which gives them “an incentive to recruit aggressively.”
“We’ve got to cut off the money that are going to the drug cartels. Otherwise, we feed them and feed them and we feed them,” he concluded.
Cuellar has been one of the most outspoken Democratic critics of the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis. He said on March 7 the administration was withholding information on the number of unaccompanied children being detained at the border. He has also expressed his disdain for the debate over whether the situation at the border is actually a crisis.