Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit spoke with Breitbart News about the nation’s border crisis after Title 42 ended and criticized Arizona Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs for rolling out the “red carpet” for illegal immigrants as an estimated 700,000 migrants prepare to flood the border.
Breitbart News Saturday Host Matthew Boyle asked DeWit to speak about the conditions at the Southern border in light of Title 42’s end this week.
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DeWit explained that after Title 42’s end, roughly 700,000 “military-aged men,” were waiting to come into the country from Mexico, roughly estimating “one out of six adults” in Arizona.
“And when you figure we have what, seven million people in the state of Arizona? But if you figure maybe four million people are adult age, something like that. I mean, right now, it’s 700,000 people are coming across, that’s one out of six people. Theoretically, one out of six adults you see running around are illegal immigrants,” he said.
DeWit faulted President Joe Biden’s administration for incentivizing border crossers through taxpayer-funded benefits. He also explained that those entering the country are being given court dates as late as four years from today.
“And so it’s a big problem. The fact that our government brings them across and hands them a taxpayer=funded cell phone and taxpayer-funded benefits. And they’re being being given court dates,” he said.
“They’re basically running into the Border Patrol’s arms and saying, ‘Hey, I’d like my phone and all this.’ The court dates they’re giving them are saying, ‘Show up for court in 2027’ — and letting them loose in your communities with this promise to return, as you know. I don’t think this has actually happened. 2027! So it’s absurd. We’ve we’ve lost control of our southern border,” DeWit told Boyle.
DeWit said Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is rolling out the “red carpet” for these illegal immigrants when Boyle asked whether Hobbs is trying to address the migrant crisis.
“Her plan is to basically roll out the red carpet and give them bus passes with our taxpayer money to wherever they want to go. And so no, it’s a shame. You know, if we had a Republican governor, obviously, things would be different. But no, she had a press conference the other day that was described as very awkward and basically, we’re being very welcoming is what our state is doing to this, which is what you’d expect with a liberal governor. And it’s, it’s absolutely terrible,” DeWit explained.
He then said the difference between Biden’s and former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies results in a “massive implication” for Arizona and the southern border.
Under Biden’s watch, 42 out of 46 border patrol agents at one of the sectors on the border are in the office processing paperwork instead of being out in the field catching people, according to DeWit.
He accused Biden of becoming the “puppet” of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Democrat Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
“Only four of them are even out in the field to catch people. And so how many people are just getting through? It’s a free-for-all down there. Yeah, the Biden administration wants illegal immigration. I mean, that’s the bottom line with the policies they’ve done and what they’ve stated. And if you look at it, basically Biden has become the puppet of AOC and Chuck Schumer,” DeWit told Boyle.
However, he believes the Biden Administration’s promotion of unfettered immigration will ultimately help the GOP’s chances of securing the White House in 2024.
“Now I think this will help us take back the White House,” DeWit said.
“I think what they’re not calculating is that one of the reasons that Trump did so well in 2016, was, you know, building the wall and his push to stop illegal immigration, because there are a lot of even Democrats that don’t like what’s going on,” DeWit said. “And so they will flip over and vote Republican to get a strong border. So that helped us a lot in 2016. And I think that’s going to help us a lot in 2024. The problem is, how much damage will be done by the time we get to 2024?”
DeWit confirmed to Boyle that he and the Arizona Republican Party are working on securing resources to build the “ground game” for an operation that could match the Democrat’s “ballot harvesting,” or “ballot chasing,” efforts.
Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
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