kevin-mccarthy” target=”_blank”>House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy< to deploy the National Guard in response to the Haitian migrant surge at Del Rio, Texas which has overwhelmed the small town and has officials describing the situation as “out of control.”
“The Biden Administration must recognize this for what it is: A National Security Crisis,” McCarthy said in a statement. “As such he must fully deploy the National Guard to the southern border to help our Border Patrol agents with more resources to control the situation.”
IMAGES OF HAITIAN MIGRANT SURGE AT DEL RIO SHOWS CHAOS UNDER BRIDGE AS NUMBERS SOAR PAST 11,000
Thousands of migrants, predominantly from Haiti, have flooded to the border in recent days. On Wednesday there were approximately 4,000 migrants there, but by Friday it was above 11,000, with multiple sources telling Fox News they believe that tens of thousands more are behind them.
Fox News captured images of hundreds of migrants streaming across the dam, as Texas lawmakers expressed horror at the scenes unfolding beneath the Del Rio bridge. Customs and Border Protection said it was increasing resources to the areas.
Meanwhile the mayor of Del Rio appealed to the Biden administration to act on the crisis.
“This is just something that needs to be brought to light, that we need quick attention from the administration, we need quick attention to this, we need a response in real time,” the mayor said in a video.
McCarthy pointed to the situation as part of an ongoing migrant crisis that has seen massive migrant encounters along the border — with more than 208,000 encountered in August, marking the second month in a row the encounters have gone over 200,000.
“Under the Biden Administration, over 1.2 million migrants have been apprehended entering our country illegally — and that’s just who our over-worked and under-resourced Border Patrol agents caught,: he said.
TEXAS REP. GONZALES CALLS SQUALID MIGRANT CAMP UNDER DEL RIO BRIDGE ‘GUT WRECHING’ AS NUMBER SOAR
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He also linked the crisis to efforts in Congress to pass mass amnesty measures via budget reconciliation for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country.
“It is no coincidence this is happening as Democrats in Congress are moving to pass legislation that would grant immediate citizenship for up to 10 million illegal immigrants,” he said. “This is a wakeup call to Democrats that their policies are putting American lives in danger and must be abandoned.”
The Republican leader also called for clarification on why the airspace was restricted over the bridge, which temporarily blocked news organizations from sending drones to film over the area — and also called on Vice President Harris, who was placed in charge of diplomatic talks to end the crisis, to brief Congress.
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“I am inviting the Vice President to brief Members of the Republican Conference next week to provide an update on the Administration’s plan to secure our southern border and our country,” he said.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
