New Democratic border security task force aims to change narrative

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Over two dozen House Democrats in Washington on Tuesday announced the formation of a new Democratic border security caucus they say is aimed at changing the narrative from Republicans about how life really is at the border and what border communities need.

The Democrats for Border Security Task Force was co-formed by South Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar and Rep. Tom Suozzi, of New York.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-TX (Cuellar Photo)

They held a news conference Tuesday morning and said they back the bipartisan Senate border security bill, which House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he won’t put on the House floor.

“It’s important for Democrats to talk about strong border security and still be respectful of immigrants’ rights and values. For so long the Republicans have had a narrative about the border being a dangerous place and out of control. And I think it’s important that Democrats also have a narrative about border security.” said Cuellar, who is from the border town of Laredo. “Some of us know, we represent and we live at the border and we understand what the border is about.”

“Right now we have a situation in our country where the people who are standing here as part of this caucus are saying we’re going to do everything we can to come up with a solution,” Suozzi said.

President Joe Biden also touted the Senate bipartisan border bill when he visited the South Texas border town of Brownsville on Feb. 29. And he urged its passage when he gave his State of the Union address last week.

President Joe Biden talks with the U.S. Border Patrol and local officials, as he looks over the southern border, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas, along the Rio Grande. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The bill proposes adding 1,500 U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel; adding 4,300 asylum officers — which is quadruple the current 1,000 asylum officers, increasing the number of detention beds from 40,000 to 50,000, and would appropriate $1.4 billion in funds for communities that assist migrants.

The task force has 26 members and many are from border communities.

Rep. Colin Allred, who represents Dallas, said his grandmother lived in Brownsville and his mother and aunt grew up there.

Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, is running against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in November. (File Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

“I’m here because I’m a fourth-generation Texan. My family is from Brownsville, Texas,” Allred said. “I spent my childhood visiting my grandmother there. I know our border communities are not just political backdrops. They’re not just places you go to point out problems. They’re places where real people live. Where they’re trying to raise their families,” said Allred who is running against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in November for the Senate seat.

Caucus members repeatedly criticized Republicans, especially former President Donald Trump, for not supporting the Senate bipartisan border bill. Democrats say it’s a way for the GOP to continue to tout a “border crisis” leading up to the elections, without offering solutions.

“Democrats need a forum to approach border security policy as the GOP continues to play partisan politics with the issue. The crisis at our border demands solutions today, and it is unfortunate that a bipartisan Senate bill aimed at addressing the situation was killed before we even had a chance to debate its contents. I’m proud to lead my fellow Democrats on this Task Force so we can find sensible solutions that will secure the border while respecting the rights of migrants to claim asylum,” Cuellar said.

“This task force will advocate for commonsense, bipartisan compromise to achieve much-needed and long-overdue comprehensive immigration reform. Our approach to the immigration and border crisis is unequivocal; we will work with anybody from any wing of any party if they genuinely care about solving this problem,” Suozzi said. “Too many in politics today are focused on pointing out the problem and keep busy figuring out what tricks they have ‘up their sleeves’ to weaponize the border crisis, this task force will ‘roll up our sleeves’ to try to fix it.”

The task force plans to meet with White House officials, NGOs and local leaders from border communities.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez’s South Texas border county currently has about 400 migrant encounters per day. That’s significantly down from a year ago leading up to the lifting of Title 42 when South Texas saw upwards of 10,000 asylum-seekers cross from Mexico per day.

Nevertheless, Cortez told Border Report on Tuesday that the situation is untenable and he is urging a halt to the influx of asylum-seekers until Congress reforms immigration policies.

“Basically have a moratorium on asylum seekers. In other words, stop it for now. We’ve lost control. Let’s get control of it, then we’ll come back, we’ll come back and put a rule or law in place that will accommodate the needs of the immigrants and our needs. But we have to stop them because it’s just, it’s just not working,” Cortez said.

“What we would like to see is a change of policy of dealing with asylum seekers that are coming in. Because we’re very liberal in allowing asylum seekers to come in here than we had, in essence, that have invited every immigrant in the whole world to come here. Because all they have to say is that their life is threatened. And they need to come to United States, we have a short amount of time to let them in. So they come in, and they can stay in the United States, which is, which is an easy way for them to get here. So what we have is a huge backlog of a lot of people, and everybody wants to wants to come here, which is creating a tremendous capacity problem with people,” Cortez said.

He said, as a border leader he’d also like to see more funding for technology to help border law enforcement. Namely, he says they need more drones to counter the thousands of drones that Mexican cartels launch over the border every day.

And he said they need more South Texas workers for the growing number of jobs and he hopes Congress will find a way to expand work visas for migrants who can come and contribute and fill the positions that many Americans won’t.

“We need workers. Let’s have some rules and laws that allows the workers that we do want to come here legally in a lot easier path than what they’re coming. So I think Congress needs to do its job,” Cortez said.

“Mr. President, Congress Please Please get together don’t call yourself Republicans don’t cry so Democrats call themselves Americans to solve this problem,” he said.

Retired school teacher Sally Escobar, 62, of Weslaco, Texas, says she favors legal immigration but she worries too many children and women are putting themselves at risk coming illegally and in the hands of dangerous cartel.

“People who come here illegally are just leaving themselves open to be to be exploited in some way. And so that that’s another reason why we should we should promote legal immigration,” Escobar told Border Report. “People have the right to live wherever they want to, as long as they come here, legally. People who come here illegally — even though I can understand why they want to be in this country — I think they’re taking a lot of chances. They’re putting children at great risk,” Escobar said.

The following U.S. representatives have also joined the Democrats for Border Security Task Force: