On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) said that the White House is sending a “mixed message” by extending public health orders while saying “there’s no health issue” and eliminating Title 42 and that “becomes a marketing process for the cartels to get more people into the United States.” Cuellar also predicted that “cartels are going to be enriched by Title 42 going away on May 23rd.”
Cuellar said that we need more immigration judges at the border to make the process more efficient and “Title 42 is a public health issue. It’s a mixed message that the White House is sending. How can we still have a public health issue order extended for 90 days and then say there’s no health issue and get rid of Title 42? All it does — it becomes a marketing process for the cartels to get more people into the United States.”
He added, “[W]e can work with Mexico, provide them more resources. Or…right now, the coyotes come through, let’s say, from Guatemala to Mexico. Some of them never make it. If it’s a young lady, a cartel might say, you’re going to stay here and work for us. Or it’s a young man, they say, you look strong, we’re going to make you part of this. So, why not do the asylum in those countries and then fly them in? $500 a ticket will be a lot cheaper than them paying $8,000 to the Mexican cartels. Keep in mind that, in six months, there were over 1 million individuals that came into the United States, just in six months. Multiply that by $8,000, that’s $8 billion that the cartels made. So, the cartels are going to be enriched by Title 42 going away on May 23rd.”
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